Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

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Obama Campaign: GOP Using 'Swift Boat' Tactics

New attack is a smear campaign, Obama team says

(Newser) - We've arrived at this election's "Swift Boat" moment, at least according to President Obama's re-election campaign. A group of former US intelligence and Special Forces operatives launched a harsh media campaign against Obama yesterday, claiming Obama should not take credit for killing Osama bin Laden and...

Gingrich Threatens to Sue Over Attack Ad

Campaign warns TV stations not to air super PAC spot

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich's campaign is threatening to sue Michigan TV stations that air a negative ad accusing him of supporting China's "one-child" policy, reports Politico . The mud in this case is being flung by the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future, and it alleges that 1989 legislation sponsored...

Rove Group's Only Donors: Billionaires

American Crossroads says it's a 'grassroots' organization

(Newser) - Need proof that the term “grassroots” has become a meaningless political buzzword? Karl Rove’s American Crossroads group, which has occasionally used the term, is funded almost exclusively by four billionaires, according to Salon . And two of the four made their money in the oil and gas industry. It’...

Maher: Birthers Stupid, But Dangerous
Maher: Birthers Stupid, But Dangerous
OPINION

Maher: Birthers Stupid, But Dangerous

Ridiculous crap has a way of getting out of hand in America

(Newser) - Lately, liberals have “been laughing heartily at the wacky antics of ‘birthers,’” the goofballs who think “President Obama is an African sleeper spy,” writes Bill Maher in the Los Angeles Times. But we need to stop laughing, because this is America, “where if...

Obama Out to Stop Ad Linking Him to Radical

Calls TV stations, DOJ to silence spot funded by 'Swift Boat' backer

(Newser) - Barack Obama is striking back to stamp out an ad that links him to a 1960s radical, eager to demonstrate a far more aggressive response to attacks than John Kerry did when faced with the 2004 "Swift Boat" campaign. Obama not only aired a response ad to the spot...

Obama Nation Author Has Made Career of Wild Claims

Here's a look at some of his most outlandish

(Newser) - Author Jerome Corsi, he of the Kerry Swift Boat book and the new attack tome on Barack Obama, has a long history of, um, provocative theories. For instance: The world's oil supplies are nearly infinite because oil constantly replenishes itself. Politico takes a look at some of his more outlandish...

Kerry Fights Back on Obama 'Swift Boating'

Launches site to refute Corsi book, urges prompt rebuttal

(Newser) - Jerome Corsi is back, and this time John Kerry wants to confront him head on. Kerry has launched a website to refute the attacks in Corsi’s new book, Obama Nation, which aims to dismantle Obama's reputation the same way 2004’s Unfit for Command helped destroy Kerry’s. “...

Swift Boat Author Aims to Sink Obama

Attack book portrays candidate as having secret radical agenda

(Newser) - The author who helped torpedo John Kerry's White House bid is aiming to make it two for two, the New York Times reports. Jerome Corsi's Unfit for Command launched the Swift Boat controversy. His new book, Obama Nation, portrays Barack Obama as a radical liberal with strong ties to Islam,...

Pickens Drills Into McCain Campaign
Pickens Drills Into McCain Campaign
OPINION

Pickens Drills Into McCain Campaign

Oilman's environmental turn enrages GOP, writes columnist

(Newser) - The reinvention of oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens as an environmentalist represents a huge political about-face, writes Timothy Egan in the New York Times. Four years ago, Pickens bankrolled the Swift Boat campaign that derailed John Kerry's presidential bid. Now Pickens, "looking a bit like the John Huston character...

Once Pals, Kerry and McCain Are Now on the Rocks

War, security policy has blasted open gap created during '04 campaign

(Newser) - The 2004 election cracked the once-close personal relationship between John McCain and John Kerry, the Washington Post notes, and differences over the Iraq war has left the bond between the former Navy men fractured. "The same intensity of their feelings as veterans which brought them together has pushed them...

McCain Pockets $70K From Swift Boaters

Against '04 ads, he's now using veteran who appeared in them

(Newser) - John McCain has taken nearly $70,000 in donations from top funders of the notorious Swift Boat Vets for Truth, the group that assaulted John Kerry’s military record in 2004—prompting censure from McCain at the time as “dishonest and dishonorable.” A rep was coy in response,...

Swift Boat Vets Want Their Name Back

Vietnam servicemen bemoan association with Kerry attack ad

(Newser) - These days, the phrase "Swift boat" has come to mean a vicious political attack of the kind suffered by John Kerry in the 2004 election. While the term has gained such currency that it's now used as a verb, one group is seriously miffed: the Navy veterans who, like...

Pickens Stiffs Witnesses Against Swift Boat Ads

Oilman rejects evidence ads were false

(Newser) - The billionaire who bankrolled the notorious Swift Boat ads discrediting John Kerry's military record during his 2004 presidential run has rejected evidence that the ads were false. T. Boone Pickens offered a million dollars for proof the ads contained falsehoods—but has refused to acknowledge information provided by 10 men...

'Swift Boating' Fears for Obama May Be Premature

Third-party groups aren't appearing on the horizon

(Newser) - Democrats fretting over a reprise of the swift boating that marked the 2004 campaign may be hearing false alarms, Politico reports. Third-party organizations, aka 527 groups, have thus far been unable to drum up enough opposition to Barack Obama to fund an offensive. It's early yet, but antagonists like T....

Swift Boaters Resurface for GOP
Swift Boaters Resurface for GOP
OPINION

Swift Boaters Resurface for GOP

Kerry angered over donations to fellow veteran McCain

(Newser) - The renamed Swift Vets and POWs for Truth—infamous for derailing John Kerry’s 2004 presidential bid—have returned, contributing and bundling nearly $200,000 to Republican candidates. This doesn’t “bode well” for clean politics, writes the Nation’s Christopher Hayes, who sought out Kerry’s comment on...

Interest Groups Gain in Cash —and Influence

As party $$$ dips, issue $$$ rises; will further polarize 2008 election

(Newser) - The swift-boating of John Kerry was only the first wave—election spending by groups unaffiliated with the major political parties nearly tripled between 2000 and 2006, the Wall Street Journal reports, to 19% of the total. And the so-called "527" groups, which don't have to disclose their donors, are...

Kerry Takes $1M Swift Boat Challenge

Senator vows to face Texas billionaire and blast allegations

(Newser) - John Kerry accepted a $1 million challenge today to back his military record against claims by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the AP reports. The former Dem nom answered an open challenge by oilman T. Boone Pickens, a key funder of the group that claimed Kerry fudged his military...

Swift Boater Gets Recess Appointment

Bush slips three controversial conservatives past Senate

(Newser) - President Bush doled out three major recess appointments yesterday to  conservatives Democrats found distasteful. Ambassador to Belgium went to Sam Fox, a top-tier donor to Republican causes including Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the 527 that sank John Kerry’s shot at the White House.

Kerry-Smearers Eyeing McCain
Kerry-Smearers Eyeing McCain

Kerry-Smearers Eyeing McCain

McCain calls them the "most despicable people I have ever had the misfortune to encounter"

(Newser) - The veterans who helped sink John Kerry's Swift Boat to the White House is prepping for battle with John McCain. "Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry" founders Jerry Kiley and Ted Sampley have dusted off their 527 forms and created "Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain," to combat the...

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