OK, fast forward to today. There's a sad little video ad on the georgewbush.com site that tries to show us what a bunch of raving loons the left are. They have Gore's Iraq speech, Gephardt calling Bush a "miserable failure," and some other stuff. (Surprisingly, I don't remember seeing the Dean Scream.) In amongst all that, they have clips from the Bush-Hitler ads from the MoveOn contest. Obviously, they're trying to make the point that John Kerry wants you to think Bush is Hitler.
However, not everyone is as nuanced in the political vocabulary as you and I and georgewbush.com. People are thinking that Bush is comparing Kerry to Hitler, since in context Hitler is just shown along with Gore and Gephardt and the others. Within the ad, Hitler is just another member of the loony left -- the fact that the image is from an ad made by someone trying to win a MoveOn contest is never explained.
I just got a solicitation from the Kerry campaign trying to capitalize on this (even though they surely know the real intent of the Bush ad):
Dear Ryan,
Yesterday, the Bush-Cheney campaign, losing any last sense of decency, placed a disgusting ad called "The Faces of John Kerry's Democratic Party" as the main feature on its website. Bizarrely, and without explanation, the ad places Adolf Hitler among those faces.
The Bush-Cheney campaign must pull this ad off of its website. The use of Adolf Hitler by any campaign, politician or party is simply wrong.
We sent you a fundraising plea earlier this morning. But when this came up, we decided it was important to show you just what we're up against: a presidential campaign that is willing to do or say absolutely anything to win. You're our only line of defense against these underhanded tactics. Please contribute today:
https://contribute.johnkerry.com
If he were a real leader, George Bush would be talking about his first-term accomplishments -- and his second-term vision for America. But he has cast aside that opportunity because he has nothing to offer except a string of broken promises and a steady stream of fear and deception.
John Kerry is talking to this country about his optimistic vision for a stronger America. By contributing, you're giving him the resources to get that vision to millions more Americans every week. Help keep up the incredible momentum of this campaign by making a donation today:
https://contribute.johnkerry.com
Thank you,
Mary Beth Cahill
Campaign Manager
P.S. It's hard to believe that the Bush campaign would use images of Adolf Hitler. See it for yourself: http://www.georgewbush.com
So Bush attacks Kerry for an independently produced ad that compared Bush to Hitler, but does it in such an inept way that looks like Bush is comparing Kerry to Hitler, and Kerry in turn attacks Bush for comparing Kerry to Hitler.
Got it straight? Good, because no one else will.
Ryan
