Bushs Angriffskampagne gegen Kerry unter Beschuss

--- Die Washington Post führt zahlreiche Forscher an, die Bushs jüngste Werbekampagne gegen seinen Herausforderer Kerry von den Demokraten heftig kritisieren und ihr einen mehr als freien Umgang mit Fakten vorwerfen: Scholars and political strategists say the ferocious Bush assault on Kerry this spring has been extraordinary, both for the volume of attacks and for the liberties the president and his campaign have taken with the facts. Though stretching the truth is hardly new in a political campaign, they say the volume of negative charges is unprecedented -- both in speeches and in advertising. Three-quarters of the ads aired by Bush's campaign have been attacks on Kerry. Bush so far has aired 49,050 negative ads in the top 100 markets, or 75 percent of his advertising. Kerry has run 13,336 negative ads -- or 27 percent of his total. The figures were compiled by The Washington Post using data from the Campaign Media Analysis Group of the top 100 U.S. markets. Both campaigns said the figures are accurate. ... Bush has outdone Kerry in the number of untruths, in part because Bush has leveled so many specific charges (and Kerry has such a lengthy voting record), but also because Kerry has learned from the troubles caused by Al Gore's misstatements in 2000. ... Auch das Web spielt in der Schlammschlacht eine Rolle. So gibt es etwa "a new feature on the Bush Web site", allowing visitors to "Track Kerry's Shifting Positions on Iraq." That feature joined a Web log that points out negative coverage of Kerry, a feature called "John Kerry: The Raw Deal," "The Kerry Line," "Kerry Flip Flop of the Day," and "Journeys with John," a Kerry itinerary allowing people to see why "John Kerry is wrong for your state." Die Bush-Kampagnenführer spielen allerdings mit dem Feuer, denn die ganzen negativen und teils falschen Angriffe könnten auch rasch nach hinten los gehen. Der Bericht in der Washington Post ist da eventuell nur ein Anfang.