The anti-Kerry ads continued last night to get a boost from media coverage of them. More analysis of how the media is complying later, but here is the New York Times’ take on this in a thorough story this morning by reporters Kate Zernike and Jim Rutenberg.
A series of interviews and a review of documents show a web of connections to the Bush family, high-profile Texas political figures and President Bush’s chief political aide, Karl Rove.
Records show that the group received the bulk of its initial financing from two men with ties to the president and his family – one a longtime political associate of Mr. Rove’s, the other a trustee of the foundation for Mr. Bush’s father’s presidential library. A Texas publicist who once helped prepare Mr. Bush’s father for his debate when he was running for vice president provided them with strategic advice. And the group’s television commercial was produced by the same team that made the devastating ad mocking Michael S. Dukakis in an oversized tank helmet when he and Mr. Bush’s father faced off in the 1988 presidential election.
The strategy the veterans devised would ultimately paint John Kerry the war hero as John Kerry the “baby killer” and the fabricator of the events that resulted in his war medals. But on close examination, the accounts of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth’ prove to be riddled with inconsistencies. In many cases, material offered as proof by these veterans is undercut by official Navy records and the men’s own statements.
It shouldn’t be surprising that the scurrilous campaign includes veterans of such tactics, including PR executive Merrie Spaeth .
Ms. Spaeth had been a communications official in the Reagan White House, where the president’s aides had enough confidence in her to invite her to help prepare George Bush for his vice-presidential debate in 1984. She says she is also a close friend of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, a client of Mr. Rove’s. Ms. Spaeth said in an interview that the one time she had ever spoken to Mr. Rove was when Ms. Hutchison was running for the Texas treasurer’s office in 1990.
When asked if she had ever visited the White House during Mr. Bush’s tenure, Ms. Spaeth initially said that she had been there only once, in 2002, when Kenneth Starr gave her a personal tour. But this week Ms. Spaeth acknowledged that she had spent an hour in the Old Executive Office Building, part of the White House complex, in the spring of 2003, giving Mr. Bush’s chief economic adviser, Stephen Friedman, public speaking advice.
And then she lays bare her PR tactics and their relationship to truth.
Asked if it was possible that she had worked with other administration officials, Ms. Spaeth said, “The answer is ‘no,’ unless you refresh my memory.”
The tactics of the Swift Boat group included calling some of those who served under Kerry to elicit statements criticizing him. Whether or not the people contacted criticized Kerry didn’t seem to matter.
Patrick Runyon, who served on a mission with Mr. Kerry, said he initially thought the caller was from a pro-Kerry group, and happily gave a statement about the night Mr. Kerry won his first Purple Heart. The investigator said he would send it to him by e-mail for his signature. Mr. Runyon said the edited version was stripped of all references to enemy combat, making it look like just another night in the Mekong Delta.
“It made it sound like I didn’t believe we got any returned fire,” he said. “He made it sound like it was a normal operation. It was the scariest night of my life.”
Then there is the anti-Kerry book, co-written by “Jerome R. Corsi, who was identified on the book jacket as a Harvard Ph.D. and the author of many books and articles. But Mr. Corsi also acknowledged that he has been a contributor of anti-Catholic, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic comments to a right-wing Web site. He said he regretted those comments.”
I’m sure he regrets them, as they make him appear the lying bigot that he is.
Update: Here’s a graph of the SBV connections to the Bush campaign and Karl Rove. (You may need to expand the graphic to read it.) Much thanks to Alan Bennett for this.
Kevin Drum also has a post on this today.