Looking for Kerry speech from 2000 defending McCain - possibly on Senate floor.

[blm]

Duer said he saw the speech and needs it, but can't find it. I have only found references to Kerry's defense of McCain, but can't find the speech or letter he wrote. Could McCain have had scrubbers at work?

BTW - you may or may not be surprised to know Kerry does have more private supporters here at DU, including those who have him as their second choice. Every now and then, they let me know in pm.

[TayTay]

1. Like this?

SENATORS TO BUSH: APOLOGIZE TO MCCAIN
New Orleans Times Picayune, (02-05-2000)
By From wire reports

WASHINGTON

Five senators who saw combat in Vietnam -- four of them Democrats -- Friday called on George W. Bush to apologize to Sen. John McCain after a Bush campaign surrogate charged that McCain has "forgotten" veterans and opposed legislation on their behalf. The five veterans -- Democrats Max Cleland of Georgia, Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Charles Robb of Virginia, together with Republican Chuck Hagel of Nebraska -- said Bush should apologize and disassociate himself from J. Thomas Burch Jr., chairman of the National Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Coalition. At a campaign rally Thursday in South Carolina, Burch lashed out at McCain, a Vietnam veteran who spent 5 1/2 years as a POW, charging that he has opposed legislation vital to veterans. "He had the power to help these guys," Burch said. "He came home. He forgot us." The five senators told Bush that that assertion is "absolutely false" and pointed to McCain's "courageous efforts" on POW/MIA affairs. Scott McClellan, a Bush spokesman, dismissed the call for an apology and said that during the event, Bush said that McCain "is clearly a war hero."

[TayTay]

2. Another

SENATORS CHASTISE BUSH, JUMP TO DEFEND MCCAIN'S RECORD
Daily Press, Final, Sec. LOCAL, p B1 (02-06-2000)
By DAVID LERMAN Washington Bureau

Republican presidential candidate John McCain won some unsolicited support last week from an unlikely ally: Democratic Sen. Charles S. Robb of Virginia.

McCain, campaigning in South Carolina, found himself under attack for the first time on a subject that is normally his greatest strength: his commitment to a strong defense and his support of military veterans.

The Arizona senator, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, is hoping to rally the hefty military and veterans vote in South Carolina next week to score a second victory against Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination.

At a Bush rally in Sumter, J. Thomas Burch Jr., chairman of the National Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Coalition, told the crowd that McCain has often opposed legislation beneficial to veterans, including efforts to locate those missing in action in Vietnam.

"He had the power to help the veterans," Burch was quoted as saying. "He came home and forgot us."

That attack on McCain, a genuine war hero, outraged Vietnam veterans who now serve with McCain in the Senate, including Robb.

In a letter released Friday, Robb and several other veterans called on Bush to disassociate himself from Burch and to apologize to McCain.

"From his courageous efforts on POW/MIA affairs, to his most recent advocacy of decent living standards and adequate compensation for men and women serving in the military today, Sen. McCain has earned recognition from his colleagues on both sides of the aisle as a real leader on veterans' issues in the United States Senate," the letter said.

"We are familiar with the intensity of political campaigns, but we believe it is inappropriate to associate yourself with those who would impugn John McCain's character and so maliciously distort his record on these critical issues."

The letter was signed by Robb; Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga.; Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.; Sen. Bob Kerrey, D- Neb.; and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

[blm]

3. Funny how they credit Robb, when it was Kerry who initiated the letter.

.

[TayTay]

5. Didn't help Robb that year

He lost to Sen. Barfbag, who just lost to Senator-Elect Webb.

[TayTay]

4. more

FELLOW VIETNAM VETS DEFEND MCCAIN
Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA), (02-05-2000)

Newsday

Five senators who served in Vietnam slammed Gov. George W. Bush on Friday for using a veterans activist to criticize Sen. John McCain's record on veterans issues.

On Thursday, Bush shared a stage in Sumter with J. Thomas Burch Jr., chairman of the National Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Committee, who said McCain, hailed as a hero for surviving five years in a North Vietnamese prison camp, had opposed measures dealing with Agent Orange and the gulf war syndrome as well as legislation to help families of soldiers missing in action in Vietnam.

In the letter to Bush, the senators said, "We are writing to express our dismay at the misinformed accusations leveled by your surrogate.

"These allegations are absolutely false," said the letter, which was signed by Sens. Max Cleland of Georgia, Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Charles Robb of Virginia, all Democrats, and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a Republican and one of McCain's few supporters in the Senate.

"Indeed," it went on, "Mr. Burch was a leading critic of President Reagan's and your father's policies on POW/MIA issues, and he vehemently opposed a historic effort led by the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs carried out on a bipartisan basis which resulted in the declassification of millions of documents and the identification and return to the United States of the remains of hundreds of American servicemen who were missing in action."

The senators wrote that McCain was a leader on veterans issues and added, "We hope you will publicly disassociate yourself from these efforts, and apologize to Sen. McCain."

Referring to the senators, McCain said, "Their friendship is all the honor I need in my life, and more than compensates for the temporary irritation of baseless attacks by apparently desperate political campaigns."

Edward Timperlake, who was assistant secretary of veterans affairs under Bush's father, President George Bush, also said the criticism of McCain was undeserved.

Timperlake, who is supporting Bush, said that McCain has a good record on veterans affairs and that "attacking John McCain on veterans affairs is just wrong. It's over the line."

Bush campaign officials could not be reached for comment.

[TayTay]

6. Other stuff, now since long gone

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=32893

[TayTay]

7. B-I-N-G-O, Oh yeah, I got it. (Who's your daddy here, baby.)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/8/21/23649/5768

and

http://dir.salon.com/story/politics2000/feature/2000/02/11/veterans/index.html

The definitive defense site: http://swiftvets.eriposte.com/appendixb.htm#B4

[blm]

8. Thanks for the crack research - been going batty at Thomas looking thru congressional record

Can't find floor speech anywhere. Am really wondering if it was deliberately scrubbed during 2004 campaign.

[ProSense]

9. Awesome!

Definitive! Too bad Bush turned out to be a little chickenshit!

[blm]

10. This can all be useful if McCain's the nominee, too.

.

[LittleClarkie]

11. In which way. What an asshat. I can't believe he played stupid when

it came to defending Kerry re: the joke that went awry. That's gotta hurt our John knowing that McCain was once a friend.

[karynnj]

12. Also consider the "he can be bullied" theme

Bush trashed him and he then spent at least 5 years acting as though he was Bush's puppy dog. When he was attacked in 2000, he had a friendly media, 5 Senators who strongly, in a unified way, defended him, and he completely imploded. In the years afterwards he did nothing to further discredit Sampley (sp?), who was one of the people who hit Kerry.


Consider that Kerry had far more people attacking him - for his service, protesting and the POW thing, yet he survived with his dignity and nearly won - with far less immediate support and a hostile media. Then Kerry's friends are still working to absolutely discredit each and every one of these creeps.

Which one REALLY fought back?

[JI7]

13. weird pics of McCain

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2735987

[cadmium]

14. dynamic dems put this up from the New Yorker in 1996

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=273x110541