Monday, 13 September 2004 - 7:18 PM EDT

I'd have liked the signature usually included in military memos if I gave a shit about this issue anymore. THIS was thier secret weapon? Well, probably this and Kitty Kelley.

There was something In Daily Kos(?) about this that made a pretty good case for debunking the debunkers. I can't find the link, so I'll paraphrase.

First of all, they are similar. That's because the Times New Roman font has been around since 1931. And why wouldn't these two be similar? I want to compare Microsoft Word and typewriters with Windows adapting the Mac operating system to IBM PC's.

Second, shrunk down to 8 1/2 x 11" parameters (which apparently the originals were at LGF), they show up in the exact same spot. Photoshop can keep the same parameters of a picture when you shrink it down. How this relates to letters, I'd guess the same effect.

Third, it's Democrats. A trick this dirty is usually a Republican forte. Although the execution is all Dems...

Monday, 13 September 2004 - 9:15 PM EDT

The thing that really convinces me is the perfect centering of the supposedly type-written memo. The sort of thing that takes one click in a word-processor would have been rather difficult on a 1973 typewriter, especially for some National Guard officer sitting in a little office at Podunk AFB.

CBS mounted a rather lame defense on the evening news tonight, focusing on "custom keys", and the fact that some memos had both a superscipt 'th' and a normal 'th'. Why, you'd have to turn off the Word presets to get that kind of result!

I kind of think this was not a planned attack by the Dems - it seems so clownish. A more likely explanation is that some dipshit staffer (either at CBS or a Dem organization) did this thing as a joke, and then when CBS got hold of the memos, they wanted the story so bad that they didn't bother to spot the forgery.

Third, it's Democrats. A trick this dirty is usually a Republican forte. Although the execution is all Dems...

"I can unequivocally say that no one involved here at the Democratic National Committee had anything at all to do with any of those documents. If I were an aspiring young journalist, I think I would ask Karl Rove that question," Mr. McAuliffe said.

Tuesday, 14 September 2004 - 5:20 PM EDT

Terry McAuliffe is already blaming the Evil Genius


Of course! You wouldn't expect the Dem's money man to think of any strategy himself! When do they change out chairmen again? I'll bet it's after they lose this election. Here's some stuff from his official bio:

Where his priorities lie:

The new 21st century Democratic Headquarters on Capitol Hill has been prepaid, therefore every dollar raised by the DNC during this cycle will be spent to win back the White House in 2004. 2002 wasn't important enough.

Seriously determined to whore out the Party:

signing on with the Carter-Mondale Reelection Committee. It was during this campaign that he wrestled an alligator on a dare from a fund-raising prospect(!)

But seriously, his experience...

He has served as Finance Director of the DNC and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, National Finance Chairman and then National Co-Chairman of the Clinton-Gore re-election committee



Alas, even I can't blame Bush's Brain for the memo stunt. They just invoked him today on "Crossfire" as well. I did have the idea four years ago to never mention Bush's name and just campaign against Rove to up the "puppet" image, but it won't work now. Too much invoking and you just look like you're jumping at shadows.

In other news, I'm sorry I ever thought that confusing medals with ribbons was going to be Rove's best shot. He's got everybody chasing thier tail.

Wednesday, 15 September 2004 - 4:26 PM EDT

Yet another fuckup. Despite the assault weapon's ban lapsing:

Fraternal Order of Police endorses Bush unanimously.

Inside Politics is reporting this is because Kerry failed to fill out a required candidate endorsement questionaire.

Thursday, 16 September 2004 - 1:16 PM EDT

If that is true, that is monumentally stupid. It could be that the FOP didn't want to endorse Kerry anyway, so they sent him the questionnaire late. But from similar reports I've heard of Kerry campaign ineptitude, that sounds about right.

Charlie Cook compared Kerry's campaign to Noah's Ark, with "two of everything".

Thursday, 16 September 2004 - 1:18 PM EDT

Does anyone (ahem) experienced with scorecard questionnaires care to enlighten us on this subject?

Thursday, 16 September 2004 - 1:49 PM EDT

Sorry--I can't get the "reply to this comment" feature to work.

As for endorsement processes, it is easier to get away with sending late questionnaires out in lower level races. For a higher-up race, it is MUCH more obvious if you do this, so it is generally not standard operating procedure. Even we didn't do that in '02. I think it's probably campaign ineptitude at its finest.