Why isn't Dean attacking Chimpy about his AWOL like Kerry and Clark are?

[NNN0LHI]

That seems to be a pretty good issue to hurt Chimp boy on but it seems as though Dean doesn't know anything about it. I am sure he reads the paper and knows this is an issue. Even Terry Mcauliffe was on This Week yesterday reaming Bush on this issue for the better part of a half an hour. Come on Howard. Do your part to kick these Bushies back to Texas.

Don

[displacedtexan]

1. It's the skiing thing.

Dean can't go there because his own medical deferment/skiing stint nullifies the argument.

[THUNDER HANDS]

2. darn that little detail

Of no military experience.

[Tim_in_HK]

I am not knocking Dean

but b/c Dean didn't go to Vietnam, he really can't.

I remember earlier that people had said that if Dean were the nominee, his not going to VN would never be brought up by Bushco b/c of Cokie McStoopid's activity during that time.

Unfortunately the knife cuts both ways . . . Dean can't really bring up Bush's AWOL during the time.

[NashVegas]

3. Maybe He Doesn't Have Hard Information Confirming It

Maybe he thinks other people will have more credibility using it.

[TacticalPeek]

4. Probably should let a surrogate do it, then parry the press.

Like Roy Neel (heehee), "Since coming on board, I've been catching up to speed on Bush's AWOL problems, and so far my research is very interesting."

:evilgrin:

[Hep]

5. Because it's 2004 for chrissakes

Don'tmake me post the John Kerry quote.

[AntiCoup2K4]

6. Military experience doesn't matter against the Chimp.

Junior beat a war hero who was better qualified in every way for the job in his own party's nomination (McCain), then -with the assistance of the Supreme Court - he beat another Vietnam Veteran. Since then, he himself has become the fictional war hero "G.I. George".

Traitor Jennings already proved that the media won't take the deserter story seriously. So any imagined advantage that Kerry or Clark would have as veterans has already been effectively neutered.

[Raya]

7. Media gave him a "PASS" he does want to raise the issue again

The media elites on the right and the left have shamefully giving Dean a pass on his ski-slope draft-dodge because most of them took (or would have taken if they had to) the Dean track themselves. But now, having been given a pass, like his fellow Yale boy GW, Dean does not dare raise the issue.

What Howard dean did to evade the Vietnam draft reflects the most deplorable aspect of class and privilege in America:- the moneyed class can engage in whatever manner of deviousness and fraud to avoid responsibility and gain advantage, yet end-up being celebrated for their success in life.

How many poor, colored and disenfranchised bled and died for the Howard Deans and George Bushes of America.

[NashVegas]

8. Scuse Me

But how many people can run with run 20 miles with 50 pounds of gear and a messed up back, and not drag down their troop?

[JNelson6563]

9. Out the time Chimpy's been on the throne

I personally don't see how anyone thinks the AWOL thing is going to be a major issue in the campaign.

Look at it all; 9/11, the Iraq war lies, Wilson/Plame, the deficits, the new budget and the list goes on and on.

There is no end to shit that can destroy him. Shit you don't have to go back 30 years to get either.

Personally I like that Dean mentioned why Saddam went on his killing spree in Iraq after the Gulf War Poppy excuted. It is the first I heard any candidate mention the fact that our lack of committment to the uprising we incited resulted in many thousands dead.

Julie

[JaneQPublic]

10. Kerry ISN'T attacking Bush, he's DEFENDING him. Remember this?...

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/25/politics/campaign/25MILI.html?ex=1075611600&en=e483e80587bb68ef&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

Mr. Kerry gave a very different answer than Mr. Clark when asked whether he would have called President Bush a "deserter," as has the filmmaker Michael Moore.

"That language was over the top, and I would not use that language," Mr. Kerry said.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

16. deserters can only leave battlefields

Bush never even got there. Kerry didn't rule out AWOL charges which seem to hold more water and are NOT over the top.

[ozone_man]

11. Dean brought up Bush, 911, and Saudi connection.

You can't always be a bomb thrower, and Dean has already thrown the biggest bombs at Bush. These are some recent issues that Dean has exposed in this campaign:

1) The Iraq war was not justified. Dean right, Kerry, Bush, Edwards, Lieberman, ... voted for it.
2) No Child Left Behind an unfunded mandate that has done only harm to public schools. Dean right, Kerry, Bush, Edwards, Lieberman, ... voted for it.
3) Patriot Act threatens our privacy rights. Dean right, Kerry, Bush, Edwards, Lieberman, ... voted for it.
4) U.S. not safer with SH caught. Dean right, everyone else wrong.
5) Bin Laden deserves a trial says Dean. Dean right IMO, everyone else wrong. How do we have the Nuremburg trials for Nazi war criminals responsible for the deaths of 6M Jews, yet not have one for a terrorist like Bin Laden? Kerry thinks it's OK and chastised Dean, but I think that Dean is right. We have a world court for stuff like this. Wasn't Clark just there with Milosevic?

[blm]

13. HAHAH...they all have brought that up and before Dean did.

It was Joe Wilson who took the greatest swing at Bush and his credibility and he did with Kerry in his corner. Dean backed DOWN from all his little throwaway lines, or didn't you notice?

Try seeing past what you think the media is telling you. There is MUCH more in play here.

[blm]

12. Terry Mac was waiting to see who came out ahead before he used the AWOL.

If Dean turned out to be the nominee, they couldn't use it. This is the reason that so many DNC pundits and spokespeople were NOT looking forward to defending Dean.

[JaneQPublic]

14. Bush a deserter? Kerry said, "I've never raised that issue, and...

...and that does not represent a position of my campaign."

And in the same WP article, "A Kerry aide said Bush's profile on national security is sufficiently established in the public mind that he doubts the president will ever be perceived as weak on the issue."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1970-2004Jan31.html

So, no, it doesn't look like the Kerry camp plans on ever "Beating Bush With the AWOL Stick!!!"

[pacifictiger]

15. He's speaking on more important issues now

that the bloodhound press is starting to run with the story. He's focused on looking forward, not back. Besides, why invite more bullets when everyone else is doing a good job keeping that issue alive.