Kerry Spot    [ jim geraghty reporting ]
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How big an impact have the Swift Boat Vets had on the campaign? Big enough for Kerry's campaign to release a second ad in August, this one saying:

"George Bush's campaign supports a front group attacking John Kerry's military record. Attacks called smears, lies. Senator McCain calls them dishonest. Bush smeared John McCain four years ago. Now he's doing it to John Kerry. George Bush: Denounce the smear. Get back to the issues. America deserves better."

The Bush campaign announced it will be sending a letter to television stations Monday, stating: "The Bush-Cheney campaign flatly rejects this baseless allegation of illegal coordination between Bush-Cheney '04 and a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The ad running on your station contains this false and libelous charge."

Howard Kurtz's analysis is generous to the Kerry campaign, but it notes, "There is no evidence that the Bush campaign "supports a front group" that produced the attack ad. There are numerous ties between Bush aides and the veterans' backers, but there are similar ties between Kerry and some liberal groups running anti-Bush ads. Bush and his top strategists, however, have passed up numerous opportunities to condemn the Swift boat ad, calling instead for a moratorium on all advertising by outside groups."

[Posted 08/23 12:15 AM]