GOP: Kerry "most liberal" candidate ever!

[Rspaight]

This just reeks of desperation. You'd think they were 15 points down, based on their tactics. I suspect they think they're worse off than the polls let on.

Really, now, "the most liberal person to ever run for president?" More liberal than FDR? Jesse Jackson? Nader? Kucinich? Mondale? Ted Kennedy? Walt Brown? Eugene Debs?

Kerry is a centrist if I ever saw one. He's against gay marriage. He's for the death penalty. He's not advocating single-payer health care. He voted for the Iraq force authorization. He's pro-NAFTA. "Most liberal ever?"

Christ. They should drop the pretense and come right out with the "Kerry: He Wants To Eat Your Babies" ad. That would, in a way, be a more honest campaign than the one they're waging now: they wouldn't even be *pretending* to tell the truth.

Ryan

RNC ad calls Kerry "most liberal" ever

By Liz Sidoti

Oct. 15, 2004 | Washington -- The Republican Party calls Democratic Sen. John Kerry "the most liberal person to ever run for president" in a new television ad that began airing Friday, part of a multimillion-dollar advertising blitz to boost President Bush in the campaign's closing days.

"We live in a dangerous world that requires strong and steady leadership. John Kerry is a risky choice for America -- a risk we cannot take," said the ad, which describes the four-term Massachusetts senator as "the most liberal man in the Senate."

The GOP has been running ads in conjunction with the president's re-election campaign for more than a month. Those commercials have praised Bush and "our leaders in Congress" while assailing Kerry and "liberals in Congress."

The Republican National Committee's latest effort is separate from the campaign. That means the party's so-called "independent expenditure" operation can run ads solely about the president or his Democratic challenger.

The race is down to 10 states. The RNC is on the air in Florida, Ohio, Colorado, Nevada, New Hampshire and West Virginia, states Bush is trying to keep in his win column from 2000, as well as Iowa, Pennsylvania and New Mexico. Those states went for Democrat Al Gore four years ago but are prime Bush targets this year.

The RNC's new ad accuses Kerry of voting "to cut our military," "to severely cut our intelligence agencies," and "for higher taxes 350 times." That figure, often cited by Bush's campaign, includes many procedural Senate votes Kerry cast as well as votes on comprehensive pieces of legislation, not just taxes.

The RNC has been poised to launch such an independent advertising operation but waited until the campaign homestretch.

On the Democratic side, Kerry has been helped on the air by the Democratic National Committee's own operation, which has spent some $50 million on TV ads opposing Bush and supporting Kerry since August.