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BUSH BEAT

Bush ads broader

Bush's campaign manager Ken Mehlman, expressing how the campaign is involved in broader campaign ads, said that federal election law allows the campaign access to party money "provided that your message is broader than the individual candidate and includes a discussion of the overall agenda and the message of the party." The Republican National Committee has $93 million on hand.

The cost of the ads that mention congressional leaders or broadly partisan tags such as "liberals" can be split between the re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee without counting toward the $16 million party limit that Bush and the RNC can coordinate. The presidential campaign does have to attribute its share of the cost against the campaign’s $75 million spending limit. However, the campaign gains the ability to control a larger budget as well as the message in the ads.

This tactic has the Democrats scrambling to follow suit.

Republicans are taking advantage of these ads in Kerry battleground states of Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is also reported that the Bush campaign has checked ad costs in N.Y. to influence nearby New Jersey.

Tom Josefiak, a Bush campaign lawyer who also is a former FEC chairman, said, "These ads were created to benefit not only the President but candidates in Congress, and in saying that, it's clear to me looking at the law and regulations that everything we do is in accordance with the law."

 Just POlitics

Kerry’s chances diminishing

Sen. John Kerry has canceled plans to begin broadcasting television commercials in Bush battleground states of Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri. Kerry’s chances of winning the Presidency are very slim unless Kerry can win several of the states that Bush won last time. Bush states where Kerry is still trying to compete are: Ohio, Florida, Colorado and Nevada.

Bush will be shifting $330,000 from the states Kerry is abandoning to blue states where Bush has a chance of winning. Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin are three key states where Bush has a good chance of ending Kerry’s opportunity to become President. [(Click here) to do your part to defeat John Kerry.]

Karl rove said, "There's a lot more blue territory that's been trending purple and red, and a lot less red that's been getting any tinge of blue in it, and that's good for us," Rove said. "We're forcing the battle consistently onto their" turf.

The Kerry campaign is "worried about" protecting the nine states that Vice President Al Gore won in 2000: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Maine, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington.

The LA Times now has their electoral map with Bush 207 and Kerry 146. This number doesn’t include Arkansas, Missouri and N. Carolina that all concede are now in Bush’s column. That would make the Bush total 239 of the 170 needed to win.

Because of population shifts since 2000 that favor Republicans, Kerry could win every state taken by Gore in 2000 and would have just 260 electoral votes, 10 short of winning the presidency. Gore lost to Bush by five electoral votes, 271-266.

Iraq barbs

The campaigns continue to exchange barbs on the issue of Iraq

President Bush:

"The way to prevail, the way toward successful conclusion that we all want, the way to secure Iraq and bring our troops home as quickly as possible is not to wilt or waver or send mixed signals to the enemy."

"My opponent is sending mixed signals," the president said. "He has had many different positions on Iraq."

Sen. John Kerry:

"George Bush is trying to fight a phantom here because he won't tell the American people the truth, so he sets up something that's not a real issue and attacks it," Sen. John Kerry said continuing his desire to create a phantom issue.

NATO expands role in Iraq

NATO is expected to send about 300 officers into Iraq to set up and run a military academy outside Baghdad, broadening the mission that began last month with the deployment of 40 NATO instructors.

Kerry’s voice fails

Sen. John Kerry’s voice has failed and Sen. John Edwards will be standing in for Kerry. Kerry’s schedule for the day includes stops at 9:15 a.m., event, Mershon Auditorium, Ohio State University, Columbus. 2:15 p.m., forum, Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, Davenport, Iowa. 6 p.m., rally, US Cellular Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 11:15 p.m.

Laura Bush will be in Eldridge, Iowa tomorrow.

New Bush & Kerry ads

The Boston Globe reports on the two new ads out of the Bush and Kerry campaigns:

The image was simply too much for senior Bush media strategists to resist: Senator John F. Kerry windsurfing off Nantucket, his boat twisting back and forth in the gusty air, the very maneuver Republicans have accused the Democratic candidate of making on important policy issues for months.

''I thought it so perfectly conveyed the message," said senior adviser Mark McKinnon, who quickly grabbed the footage of Kerry, shot by news crews during the Republican National Convention, to turn it into a campaign advertisement.

To view the new Bush ad, take this (LINK.)

The Kerry campaign has released a new ad as well. The title of the new ad is "Juvenile," and is a condemnation of George W. Bush for responding to the deteriorating situation in Iraq by running a juvenile and tasteless attack ad, "Windsurfing."

To view the new Kerry ad, take this (LINK.)

Democrat humor

Comedian Bill Maher is at it again.

"Oh, I tell you, things are getting bad over there [in Iraq]," Mr. Maher said during his monologue for the Sept. 17 episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher" on HBO. "On Wednesday, for example, three severed heads were found by the side of the road outside of Baghdad. Hey, memo to the Iraqi people: severed-head pickup is Tuesday. Look, if you want to sleep late, roll them out on Monday night. ..."

Poll watching, 9/23

NATIONAL NBC-Wall Street Journal, Sept. 17-19

George W. Bush, 48 percent

John Kerry, 45 percent

Ralph Nader, 2 percent

Unsure, 5 percent

ARKANSAS American Research Group, Sept. 15-17

George W. Bush, 48 percent

John Kerry, 45 percent

Ralph Nader, 2 percent

Unsure, 5 percent

FLORIDA Quinnipiac, Sept. 18-21

Bush, 49 percent (41)

Kerry, 41 percent (47)

Nader, 5 percent (4)

Unsure, 5 percent (8)

IOWA Research 2000 for KCCI-TV, Sept. 19-21

Bush, 47 percent (42)

Kerry, 45 percent (46)

Nader, 3 percent (3)

Unsure, 5 percent (9)

two-way:

Bush,47 percent (43)

Kerry, 46 percent (48)

Unsure, 7 percent (9)

Bush Sr. blasts CBS

An Associated Press story [LINK] reports on former President Former President George H.W. Bush’s reaction to the CBS News story of his son's National Guard service, calling it an "insidious" attempt to malign the president:

"This disgraceful thing with CBS, trying to malign our son's service as a jet pilot, was insidious," Bush told about 300 Republican supporters at a private ballroom in Columbus.

CBS and anchor Dan Rather apologized Monday for the story but did not apologize to President Bush or to the family of the deceased National Guard commander, Frank Killian, who are greatly enraged by the false portrayal of their husband and father. The most Rather could muster was that CBS could not say for certain that the memos were “authentic.” Reaction continues to swirl around CBS and Dan Rather for the apology, which is seen by many as weak and incomplete.

Bush Sr. also commented on his son’s faith, defending it against the criticisms:

"He gets strength, great strength, from knowing that there's a being far greater than any of us, and I believe that is one of the things that has sustained him when the going gets really tough," Bush said.

CBS affiliates under fire

They’re mad as Zell and they’re not going to take it anymore... CBS viewers are emailing and contacting local CBS affiliates in record numbers to let their voices be heard – angry voices over what is viewed as CBS’s poor apology for the Bush Naitonal Guard memos forgery. [LINK]

We're getting a lot of e-mails and phone calls,'' said WKRC general manager Christopher Sehring, underlining "a lot.''

"We don't have any influence over CBS,'' Sehring said. "But all of the e-mails I get are being sent directly to New York (headquarters) with a note that says, 'Look, this is what our viewers are feeling, and they're feeling betrayed.' ''

In Roanoke, Va., a CBS affiliate manager told Variety, "Stations are being hammered, and we are taking a beating.''

In Columbus, the CBS affiliate was picketed.

Sehring wants local viewers to know that "we got the message - and we got it right from the start.''

The Janet Jackson Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction [cough, cough] has also come full bore with a $550,00 fine levied on CBS by the FCC. Now CBS also has the RatherGate mess and their affiliates could wield sufficient clout to demand firings.:

"I'm sure it will be discussed at the affiliates board meeting'' on Oct. 5, Sehring said. "If it's like the Janet Jackson episode, we will let them know that they have put us in a very difficult position.''

Will Dan Rather survive? Should he survive?

"He's had a long career and done a lot of good things, but I feel our viewers aren't satisfied yet,'' Sehring said. "I don't want to see his head on a platter, but CBS needs to do more than say, 'We were misled.' ''

"This one didn't pass all the filters,'' Sehring said. "I can't imagine on a local level that it would even get this far. We stay non-partisan and check our stuff.''

And regarding Rather's producer, Mary Mapes – who arranged the meeting between Joe Lockhart (former press secretary for President Clinton and now part of Kerry’s campaign) and Bill Burkett (disgruntled, axe to grind former National Guard officer who has hounded Bush for years) ...

"We all know that's not right,'' Sehring said.

Sehring urges viewers to complain directly to CBS bosses in New York via e-mail at: audsvcs@cbs.com  or 60II@cbsnews.com.

"CBS is a great network, and I'm proud to defend it,'' he said. "But it's hard to defend this.''

USA Today refuses to run
RightMarch.com’s anti-CBS ad!

In a glaring reversal, USA Today did a last minute reject of a national anti-CBS ad scheduled to run in their paper – though in the past, the newspaper has run 3 fullpage ads by the conservative RightMarch.com organization. [LINK]

Why the rejection of this ad? That’s what RightMarch.com wants to know:

Everything we've heard so far is "hearsay" -- they haven't put anything in writing. At first, we were told that their legal department had nixed it. Maybe that's not surprising, since USA Today had been given the same forged documents that CBS News had gotten, and had run the same story to begin with.

But then, the "official" story came down that they would only run "political" ads if the advertising group paid FULL RATE CARD prices on the ad. That means paying MUCH higher rates than anything we've paid in the past (most advertisers get discounts off of the "rate card").

We think that's just a smokescreen for the truth -- that their legal eagles are SCARED of the ad we want to run, so they pulled it.

So, RightMarch.com is now concentrating on putting together enough money to run the ad in other newspapers, targeting every major market:

... we're going to have to bypass a major media outlet -- and we CAN, through the network of newspapers we're putting together across America. But to cover the cost of that NATIONWIDE ad campaign, we need YOUR help -- CLICK HERE to donate now!

It’s no secret that USA Today also received copies of the forged memos and ran their own story smearing President Bush. While there’s no tangible proof that’s why they refuse to run the RightMarch.com anti-CBS ad, it surely doesn’t look good in light of USA Today accepting and running RightMarch.com’s prior 3 fullpage ads of different subject matter.