Anyone remember how long it took Kerry to get past the totally false "intern scandal" story in 2004?

[NNN0LHI]

http://nymag.com/nymag/features/coverstory/9221/

The Education of Alexandra Polier

Falsely accused of having an affair with John Kerry, the “intern” sifts through the mud and the people who threw it.

By Alexandra Polier Published May 31, 2004


<snip>“Hello, Alex,” said the familiar voice of my old boss, Tom Kent, one of AP’s deputy managing editors. He sounded brusque. “I hate to tell you this, but you’re on the Drudge Report,” he said, and then proceeded to read me Matt Drudge’s latest “world exclusive.”

“A frantic behind-the-scenes drama is unfolding around Sen. John Kerry and his quest to lockup the Democratic nomination for President, the drudge report can reveal.

“Intrigue surrounds a woman who recently fled the country, reportedly at the prodding of Kerry, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

“A serious investigation of the woman and the nature of her relationship with Sen. John Kerry has been underway at TIME magazine, ABC NEWS, the WASHINGTON POST, THE HILL and the ASSOCIATED PRESS, where the woman in question once worked.


“A close friend of the woman first approached a reporter late last year claiming fantastic stories—stories that now threaten to turn the race for the presidency on its head!

“In an off-the-record conversation with a dozen reporters earlier this week General Wesley Clark plainly stated: ‘Kerry will implode over an intern issue.’

“The Kerry commotion is why Howard Dean has turned increasingly aggressive against Kerry in recent days, and is the key reason why Dean reversed his decision to drop out of the race after Wisconsin, top campaign sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.”

[blm]

1. Turned out Clinton loyalists were backstabbing Kerry throughout 2003-4, too.

Could this be one the matters that historian Doug Brinkley was referring to when he mentioned Clintons backstabbing Kerry in April 2004?
http://www.depauw.edu/news/index.asp?id=13354


We all know Carville sabotaged Ohio Dem voters on election night, so it's likely Clintons helped RW smear Kerry on this false adultery story, too.
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/oct/07/did_carville_tip_bush_off_to_kerry_strategy_woodward


It's not unusual for Clintons to join Bush smears against Kerry, even publicly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk1k0nUWEQg


In answer to your question, I believe he had it smacked down within a week.

[NNN0LHI]

2. Everything is Clintons fault to you isn't blm?

Funny.

Don

[blm]

3. After reading Bill's book and knowing how Gore and Kerry were undermined and

how BushInc always manages to get protection from Clintons while any Democrat who opposed Bush got the shaft? Yeah - there is plenty of fault to find.

After 9-11, weren't YOU pissed off that BCCI matters were deep-sixed?

[EFerrari]

6. The thing is, she's right.

The Clintons were sort of obviously absent when it came to supporting Kerry.

And as (then) a third party voter, even *I* defended Kerry. :shrug:

[NNN0LHI]

9. If people had been paying attention a little better they would have known that ...

... Bill Clinton gave probably the most coherent reason for voting for Kerry at the convention even though he would be admitted to the hospital for quadruple-bypass surgery only weeks later.

And bully for you for defending John Kerry even though you aren't a Democrat. I guess you know what side your bread is buttered on?

Don

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/26/dems.main/

Former president: GOP's vision is 'far to the right of most'

Tuesday, July 27, 2004 Posted: 4:28 AM EDT (0828 GMT)


BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Voters face a stark choice between a Democratic vision of opportunity at home and cooperation abroad versus a Republican vision that is narrow and "far to the right of most Americans," former President Bill Clinton said Monday at the Democratic National Convention.

"We've got to choose for president between two strong men who both love their countries: Our nominee, John Kerry, who favors shared responsibility, shared opportunity and more global cooperation, and their president and their party in Congress, who favor concentrated wealth and power -- leaving people to fend for themselves -- and more unilateral action."

Clinton was the headliner on opening night of the convention at Boston's FleetCenter, where Democratic delegates are gathering this week to nominate Kerry and his vice presidential running mate, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.

The former president was introduced by his wife, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who gave Kerry a ringing endorsement as "the man we need to be our president and commander-in-chief."

"John Kerry is a serious man for a serious job in a serious time in our country's history," she said. "I am very optimistic about this election because I think I know a great leader when I see one."

In his remarks, the former president brought delegates to their feet for nine standing ovations, contrasting the policies he followed during eight years in the White House with those of his successor, Bush, on the economy, tax cuts, crime, the budget deficit, international cooperation and security.

[EFerrari]

10. A lot of Democrats spoke at the convention.

But some of those Democrats didn't work the campaign.

And no one butters my bread but me. It would be silly of me to rely on any of those people for anything.

[blm]

13. A staged convention speech and never mentioned ONCE Kerry's work on terror issues - Gore did

and Clinton DID NOT. The first election after 9-11 and Bill had NOTHINGto say about Kerry's work tracking terror networks.

Clinton also spent his ENTIRE BOOK TOUR before the convention publicly DEFENDING BUSH on the very Iraq decisions Kerry was attacking at the time.

Clinton's one speech in front of a Dem audience where he skips over Kerry's entire senate career targeting government corruption and tracking terror networks was a fluff speech - especially compared to Gore's. Clinton's book tour where he REPEATEDLY defended Bush was a DRUMBEAT that was meant to protect Bush and shore up his support on Iraq before the election.


http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/06/19/clinton.iraq/

[karynnj]

16. This article is dated the day after Clinton's speech on the first day of the convention

Therefore it was among the first speeches - this article was written before Obama's speech, Edwards' speech and Kerry's own speech - therefore to quote that he gave the the most coherent reason is crazy.

Clinton's speech was ok - not exceptional and it praised his own Presidency more than Kerry - it was in speaking of himself is when he got the 9 standing ovations. He spent way to much time detailing Kerry's time as a young man in Vietnam - it didn't ring true from Clinton when he spoke of that and he exaggerated things with his send me lines - in a way Kerry never did. (In Tour of duty - Kerry told of wanting to study a year in Europe before going and Kerry spoke of the relatively peaceful mission of the swiftboats when he signed up for what ended up being one of most dangerous) He then spoke of Edwards and then mostly of how much better it had been when the he was President. It would have been better had he spoken more of things Kerry did when he was in the Senate while Bill were President. What this show is that a reporter who loved Bill praised him. (

Both Kerry's own speech and Obama's (of course) were the 2 cited by most as the best - not Clinton's.

[NNN0LHI]

19. Picky, huh? Here is another that you may like better?

http://daily.swarthmore.edu/2004/10/26/kerry-clinton-rally-philadelphia/

Kerry, Clinton rally Philadelphia
By Victoria Swisher
9:21 pm - 10/26/04

John Kerry made a presidential campaign stop in Philadelphia yesterday, with former President Bill Clinton as guest speaker. Speaking to a crowd of thousands, including about one hundred Swatties, Clinton first discussed the concrete initiatives in health care and defense that Kerry has planned, and Kerry emphasized the failures of current President George Bush, citing the recent discovery that almost 380 tons of powerful explosives are missing from a former Iraqi military installation.

The rally began with long lines and lots of waiting. People with red or blue cards were allowed to stand closer to the stage but had to first pass through a security checkpoint for safety. At 10:30 a.m., the campaign warmed up the crowd with several dance music tunes, including Outkast's "Hey Ya" and Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down". Thousands attended the event, with some people watching from the windows of their offices, some watching from roofs of buildings, and others watching from the balconies of their apartments.

During the invocation, the Reverend Louis Williams Bishop, also a Pennsylvania State Representative, rallied attendees with the failures of the current administration. Attendees booed the President as she cited the over 60,000 jobs lost in Pennsylvania during President Bush's four years in office. Introductory speakers continued in the same vein, speaking of the hope of America and Senator Kerry's dedication to a stronger and more competent defense agenda and to healthcare for every person in America. "Pennsylvania needs Kerry. The United States of America needs Kerry. The people are ready for a new President," they said.

Due to heavy traffic, Senator Kerry and former President Bill Clinton were late arriving at the rally. The crowd kept its spirits up by chanting "Kerry" and "We want Bill", while more dance music was blasted from the speakers.

Former President Clinton finally took the stage, amidst wild cheers from the crowd and lots of red, white, and blue confetti, at around 12:50 p.m. While former President Clinton is still recovering from his quadruple heart bypass surgery from seven weeks ago, he appeared strong, only slightly tired, and as charismatic as ever. He asserted that Kerry has concrete plans on issues such as healthcare and defense. Clinton warned that President Bush is "burdening our children" with his tax cuts. He powerfully stated the case for Kerry as such: "Let me tell you one of Clinton's laws of politics. If one candidate is trying to scare you, and one is trying to get you to think; if one candidate plays on your fears and one on your hopes," he said, "you better vote for the one who wants you to think and hope."

[blm]

20. What did he do during his ENTIRE BOOK TOUR, Don? He DEFENDED BUSH REPEATEDLY.

He sided with Bush's strategy on Iraq OVER Kerry's.

He did it in HIGH PROFILE INTERVIEWS for over THREE WEEKS STRAIGHT.

Popping up to glorify himself at the end of a campaign that he had his team working to UNDERMINE for over a year is all you got.

[karynnj]

24. This is not even about the same speech - and it proves nothing

Clinton did make this speech for Kerry and the article is more Clinton than Kerry. Clinton campaigning as good for Clinton as it was for Kerry. The point I made is that the statement that Bill Clinton made the clearest case for Kerry is overblown.

Clinton's actions in 2004 were more complicated - his book tour in July was NOT helpful, especially as he constantly said that going forward, the Democrats are not different than Bush - oddly what he this year claimed OBAMA thought. In fact, he used part of an Obama comment - that the goal (a stable Iraq was the same, but his view of how to get there was entirely different. The path he described sounded very close to Kerry's recommendations (starting with a regional summit) and not at all like Bush's current plan.

Ok, why was that a problem - Kerry, at that point was the presumed nominee - Clinton comments spoke of Democrats supporting Bush and took the "left" to task for differing. He did NOT bother to point out that the NEW LEADER of the party differed with Bush. Consequence - Clinton got more coverage that month than Kerry himself did and it was a factor in people not understanding Kerry's position. Couple this with Clinton in August advising Kerry to speak on domestic issues, not Iraq or terrorism. When Kerry gave his Iraq speech, Clinton people in the media whined that he wasn't listening to Bush. Now, as recent as 2006, Clinton was saying nearly the same thing - so I don't think he was attempting to hurt Kerry. The problem is that he was wrong on Iraq and even wrong on the politics.

As to his overall impact - I think it was mixed, but likely a net negative. I don't buy - as some do - that it was sabotage - just that Clinton misread 2004 (as he did 2006 and apparently 2008).

Here's what I wrote last time this came out that detailed ways that he didn't credit Kerry where it was deserved.

You make the issue campaigning in fall 2004. The lack of support that I and many others have spoken of - with no Kerry quotes to back us up - are based on our observations of negative things he and his allied did - not anything not done. Some are:

1) Releasing his autobiography in July 2004. Bill Clinton is reputed to be the sharpest politician of our generation - any high school kid could see why this is a bad idea in the run up to the election. As it was, June was a month when Kerry could get little coverage - as it was solid Reagan coverage for at least 3 weeks. Then Bill Clinton took a fair part of July - and all of us were treated to learning that the reason for Monica was "because I could". Now, frankly I could have happily lived my whole life not knowing that. This was a repeat of Bill Clinton having a confessional interview about getting his family back after Monica in the week before Gore's convention. You need to either challenge his political acumen or accept in both cases he had some need to fight off Gore or Kerry becoming the head of the party and President.

2) In the book, he has 2 strange pages where he writes of the 1996 MA Senate race. Kerry was the nominee almost 2 months before he finished editing his book - so you know that he reviewed this knowing Kerry was our candidate. The overall impression was that he liked Kerry's competitor more but wanted Kerry to win because of his knowledge on the environment and technology. He also mentioned Kerry's long term work with disadvantaged youth, noting there were no votes in it. Now, none of these 3 were big 2004 issues. Not mentioned were most of Kerry's strongest issues - foreign policy, terrorism (BCCI was already shut down), and healthcare, where Kerry had just written,with Kennedy, the precursor bill to S-CHIP based on the plan that had just passed in MA over Weld's veto! In the sections on Vietnam reconciliation, Clinton extends a huge amount of praise to McCain, nearly ignoring that our nominee was the chair of the committee and, per all accounts of those on the committee, did an incredible job and was the one person most responsible for its success. Now, I think most people, unlike me, looked up "Lewinsky" not "Kerry" in the index - but for people who read that nearly 1,000 page book those pages played into the Republican theme that he didn't accomplish much in the Senate.

3) There were Clinton and Clinton ally generated stories all through the period he was convalescing that Kerry's campaign was poorly run and that he was not listening to Clinton's advice. In fact, Kerry numbers went up when he concentrated on Iraq and the War on terror, rather than the economy as Clinton advised. These stories hurt.

4) In the wake of defeat, is when Clinton was the worst. That he praised Rove on the campaign he ran and made a point of saying he liked both Kerry and Bush within a week or two of the election hurt. Then there was the whisper campaign generated by Clinton allies that Kerry was not taking a place as just 1 of the 100 Senators and implying that he was at odds with Reid. The fact is that Kerry, by virtue of being the nominee, was a party leader - not the party leader, but a party leader - a status that the Clinton allies were denying. Clinton also had a conflict of interest as the last former President and the husband of HRC - this showed most when in 2005, he spoke of Kerry, a Democrat with far more national security credentials than almost any other Democrat, as weak on defense - rather than embracing Kerry's position on the war on terror. With the specter of Kerry running, he likely didn't want to hand that to Kerry. However, had the Democrats continued to keep that as their policy, the reaction of people like George Will that Kerry was right would have positioned us best on national security. The fact is that contrary to the list in BC's book, there was no Senator who understood more than the guy who wrote "The New War". The constant belittling Kerry and blaming Kerry for the SBVT by all the Clinton people was painful - and that did color my picture of the Clintons for the worse.

As to the campaigning, the question I would ask is who called whom. I seriously doubt the Kerry campaign begged him to campaign. By the time Clinton campaigned, Kerry alone had already had huge rallies - that broke all previous records. Of course Bill Clinton was a draw - but I seriously doubt the attendance had it just been Kerry would have been much less. I saw the entire thing on CSPAN and it was emotional - as the first time Clinton was out and he was good - but Kerry's speech was equally well received - judging from the applause. The media reports all spoke mostly of Clinton, because his being out was the news. In fact, either CNN or MSNBC cut away as soon as Clinton ended. So, newswise - I would guess it helped Kerry less than the local coverage of a just Kerry rally would have. Now, I've seen people post that Kerry would not have won PA without that rally. This is extremely unlikely - this was downtown Philadelphia - an area that ALWAYS is very Democratic. The African American turn out across the country was record breaking - even where Bill Clinton didn't go. There is no reason to think Philadelpia would be different. In Pittsburgh, it wasn't Clinton but THK who made a difference. I suspect that was the case in the affluent Philadelphia suburbs - as there were likely many independents that remembered her as their Senator's wife and as one ex-PA Republican in my area accepted Kerry as good because otherwise she wouldn't have married him.

[MonkeyFunk]

23. It was only obvious if your eyes were closed

These were shortly after Bill had open heart surgery. The notion that he did nothing for Kerry is just a lie.

[iamthebandfanman]

14. if the shoe fits....

i know how much the clintons like witty lil sayings....

but unfortunately, this is why people ARE so angry with the clintons.

they way they acted between 2000 and 2005 was so self destructive to the democratic party.... starting with their shunning of Al in the 2000 election.

[MADem]

5. Wow, that's fact-free and full of innuendo. Say hello to Karl--he IS your mentor, yes? NT

[blm]

7. Rove was laughing while the Clintons backstabbed Kerry to keep 2008 open for Hillary.

Rove, Carville, Matalin and Penn all work together for Bush-Clinton Inc.

Are you saying that Douglas Brinkley did NOT assert that Clintons were backstabbing Kerry throughout 2003-4? Did Depauw University doctor that audio?

Are you saying Woodward did NOT witness Carville's call to Matalin at the WH that discussed the contesting of Ohio's provisional ballots?

Are you saying that video of Hillary validating Bush's lie against Kerry was doctored?

[MADem]

8. Yeah, because Kerry ran such a vital, in your face, respond to any slur, campaign. NT

[blm]

11. Did Brinkley not assert backstabbing by Clintons in that audio? Woodward get Carville story wrong?

Did Hillary NOT validate Bush's smear against Kerry?

Kerry ran a great campaign and beat Bush in every matchup. The RNC stole that election and Clinton loyalists at the DNC let them do it.

And it wasn't Kerry's job alone to answer the RW attacks on him and all Dems - it was the entire Dem party - where were they? Bush's GOP lawmakers all showed up every night for him. Bush never had to lift a finger to defend himself.

Bush even had Bill Clinton spend his entire book tour in summer of 2004 repeatedly defending Bush on the very Iraq decisions that Kerry was criticizing. When did THAT ever happen in election history? The last Dem president defending the GOP president in almost every interview throughout his high profile book tour?

[MADem]

17. Ahh, WOODWARD. That paragon of veracity.

Ask Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame what they think of Woodward's "facts."

I would have preferred Dean, myself. I settled on Kerry after Dean screamed, and all those children in those orange hats, oversleeping and "working" for him pissed off the older voters. I see history repeating itself in that regard...minus the orange hats.

Gee, I don't care for Michelle Obama's associations with, say, Treehouse Foods. What--that has nothing to do with the CANDIDATE? Really? But why can't I whine about her, after all, she has a husband running for the Presidency, so her record is his, isn't it?

Why do you always pull out Bill Clinton to attack the Senator? Your crew ALWAYS does it. It suggests an inability to engage on the actual issues... instead, you revert to a talking point.

They aren't siamese twins, you know--or maybe, you don't.

And Kerry? He ran a ponderous, dull, weighty campaign. That "Above the fray" stuff sucked. If Edwards had been at the top of the ticket, he'd be finishing his first term. But even JE and his sunny optimism couldn't polish that turd. "Why the long face, John?" isn't just a joke. The guy came across as exhausted and miserable. If his wife could have run instead of him, she'd have done a better job. At least she has more spark.

[blm]

18. Sure - keep deluding yourself - Edwards performed brilliantly in 2004, eh?

It was Edwards job to lead the fight against Bush just like VP picks are SUPPOSED to do and he wouldn't do it because he didn't want to be cast as the bad guy.

I think he was afraid of the backlash.

Dean folded quickly after the first concentrated media attack. Kerry stuck it out time after time after time.

YOU prefer those Clintons, I know - the ones who used Kerry's years of uncovering BushiNc's crimes to get INTO office and reciprocated by deep-sixing all those matters to protect Poppy Bush and his powerful elite cronies.

THAT'S your idea of a Dem. The cover up wing of the Dem party has found a cheerleader in you - good for them - you'll find yourself in the company of Bill Clinton, Joe Lieberman, Chuck Robb and all the other 'trusted by Dubai' Democrats.

[MADem]

21. Wow, that's funny. I never read that rule of yours in the "How to Run for President" handbook.

And LBJ, running as Kennedy's VP, didn't either. Nor have any successful VPs I've seen lately.

Their job is to introduce the agenda to a demographic segment of the population that complements the lead on the ticket. To be a surrogate for the ticket leader. To double the punch across the land.

And there ya go with the "characterization" insults--didn't take long to get off the point, start using the "deluding" word, and tossing in a bunch of dire verbiage, like "cover up" and "powerful elite cronies"--you know, terms that don't really mean shit and have nothing to do with the actual issues and differences between the candidates. Those last two paragraphs--what failed drama major wrote those for ya?

Eh, never mind, you just go on and convince yourself that Barack "General Dynamics/Crown Family" Obama is somehow special and different. That Senator Coal Industry is a new kind of politician. Put a good sturdy mattress at the base of your lofty tower--you'll need something to break your fall, because when you do fall, it will be hard.

[NNN0LHI]

22. I don't think attacking Obama is going to bother my good old friend blm too much

blm was attacking anything Clinton here long before most people here at DU knew who Obama was.

Its been a long time obsession.

Like never ending.

I really doubt blm thinks that highly of Obama either to be perfectly honest. I could be wrong?

And I like this place so much because of DUers like blm.

Weird huh?

blm has been a burr in my saddle since I got here and I have to admit that has been a good thing for me overall.

Don

[blm]

26. I only started on Clintons after reading his book - he showed NO RESPECT for ANY of us when

he decided he wouldn't say ONE WORD about BCCI and all the matters that he sided with protecting Bushes over us and the accuracy of our nation's historic record - that should make any citizen, and especially Democrats, work their asses off to correct those grave errors of judgement.

[beachmom]

4. Well, in traditional media it was killed before it began. However,

it continued to live in right wing media, including Rush Limbaugh throughout the campaign. A friend of mine recently mentioned that Kerry had an affair, and I quickly stated that was false. It was clear that she had received that info from right wing media, and didn't realize that it had been debunked.

[NNN0LHI]

12. CNN's Aaron Brown was doing a special on it over a week later

Drudge broke the story on a Thursday and Arrons show about it was on Friday a week later.

It wasn't killed as you suggest.

Don

[blm]

15. So how LONG are YOU saying it lasted?

.

[seabeyond]

25. that was one of the few that didnt last but the afternoon... by next day

most were saying it was bullshit and it died. but the afternoon it took on quite a life, at least thru internets

[NNN0LHI]

27. I wish that had been the case, Actually Imus confronted Kerry with the story live on MSNBC

Then CNN played that clip and on and on.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:5V6Dl0DPlY0J:www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php%3Faz%3Dview_all%26address%3D132x328144+kerry%2Bintern+scandal%2Bimus&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=20&gl=us

VolcanoJen (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-13-04 03:16 PM

Response to Original message

46. CNN just aired the Imus show excerpt with Kerry

The anchor introduced the brief segment by saying that Kerry went on Don Imus this morning, where he was asked about the internet rumors that he has been involved with a young intern.

After playing Kerry's response, the anchor said "Well! There you have it."

Intern???? Has anyone actually confirmed who's intern this woman was? Seems like VRWC code to me.