Rove's character assasination squad is deserting...and
Fraudida is slipping from the Bush cabal's clutches...
Gainesville Sun: Joe Ponder, wounded during the war in
1968, said he turned down the speaking engagement
after learning that fliers promoting the event had
been distributed at a local Bush-Cheney campaign
office Friday.
Pete Webster, another member of the organization
scheduled to speak, did not attend Saturday's rally.
When the speakers failed to materialize, scores of
Bush and Kerry supporters who had gathered for the
event sparred verbally for more than three hours...
In the muggy, wet afternoon, activists from both
campaigns struggled for control of the plaza's stage,
with more than 70 Kerry supporters nearly crowding out
a smaller, pro-Bush contingent.
Between them, a third group tried to remain neutral on
the sharply divided political battleground.
Kerry supporters sang "America the Beautiful" and "God
Bless America" while Bush supporters recited the
Pledge of Allegiance. Heated debates over which man
was "fit for command" had supporters on both sides
engaged in a face-to-face war of words. A sea of red,
white and blue signs were held high, but the
atmosphere was anything but peaceful.
When Kerry supporters refused to leave the stage,
Wolfersheim called the Gainesville Police Department
to have them removed. After being asked to leave by
the police, the Kerry supporters moved onto the lawn
of the plaza, where they continued to argue with Bush
supporters on the stage before dispersing by 5:30 p.m.
Cleanse the White House of the Chickenhawk Coup, Show
Up for Democracy in 2004: Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040822/LOCAL/40821054/1078
Swift boat vets back out of speech at local rally
By GREG C. BRUNO, JEFF ADELSON and DEBORAH BALL
Sun Staff Writers
August 22. 2004 6:01AM
ZOOM DAVID MASSEY/The Gainesville Sun
Vietnam veteran Tommy Wheeler looks onto the downtown
community plaza during a rally originally organized to
showcase The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Vietnam
Veterans against Kerry and Veterans for Bush on
Saturday. No swift boat veterans showed.
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth member featured
prominently in ads attacking Sen. John Kerry's Vietnam
service said he was misled by Republicans when asked
to speak at an anti-Kerry rally in Gainesville on
Saturday.
Joe Ponder, wounded during the war in 1968, said he
turned down the speaking engagement after learning
that fliers promoting the event had been distributed
at a local Bush-Cheney campaign office Friday.
Pete Webster, another member of the organization
scheduled to speak, did not attend Saturday's rally.
When the speakers failed to materialize, scores of
Bush and Kerry supporters who had gathered for the
event sparred verbally for more than three hours.
The Bush campaign has insisted for weeks that it has
no connection to the swift boat veteran's group. Known
as a 527 for its tax-exempt status, the organization
has sponsored television ads featuring several Vietnam
veterans who accuse Kerry f lying about events for
which he won medals.
Kerry supporters have countered that members of the
organization did not serve in the same boat as the
Massachusetts senator, and accused the veterans' group
of using negative campaign tactics. Kerry has said he
stands behind his record.
The group is financed by a Texas businessman with
longtime ties to prominent Republicans in the state,
including President Bush.
By law, such groups can not coordinate with campaigns.
During an interview Saturday from his Keystone Heights
home, Ponder said he did not know how the fliers wound
up at the Alachua County Republican Party headquarters
in Gainesville, and offered few details of the event
itself. In addition to the swift boat group, the
program noted that "Alachua County Republicans,"
"Veterans for Bush," and the "Alachua Bush-Cheney
Committee" were scheduled to attend.
"I had the assurance that the party and the
Bush-Cheney campaign had nothing to do with this,"
Ponder said.
But after learning about the flyer, "I contacted those
folks and told them that as much as I was looking
forward to addressing the vets, I decided it was in
the best interest of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
that I not participate in this event."
There was question as to whether the swift boat group
had ever officially agreed to attend the eight-hour
rally. An e-mailed statement from another swift boat
member, John O?Neill, claimed that the engagement was
never cleared by the group's executives.
Regardless, Kerry officials have seized on reports of
the rally's alleged promotion, declaring Friday that
Bush had been "busted" for coordinating with the group
"in their smear campaign" against the Democratic
presidential nominee.
They went one step further on Saturday, saying that
Ponder's decision not to speak was proof of
cooperation between the groups.
"The fact that they canceled once the evidence came
out is a pretty clear sign they knew they were
breaking the law," said Matt Miller, Kerry's Florida
spokesman.
"And by they, I mean the Bush campaign and the Swift
Boat people."
In Washington, Bush-Cheney officials dismissed the
claims as ridiculous.
"This campaign would object to any sort of literature
or promotion (from an outside group) placed within any
Republican office," said Taylor Griffin, a spokesman
for the Republican campaign.
"The bottom line is, this campaign has no relationship
with this group."
Despite the high-level partisan bickering, details of
the event and its promotion in Gainesville remained
unclear Saturday.
Dineen Wolfersheim, secretary of the Alachua County
Republican Executive Committee, said she helped
organized the event as a private citizen and blamed an
unidentified "overzealous Republican" for placing the
flier in the party's headquarters. She said once local
Republican party officials learned of the promotion's
placement, they removed it.
In addition, Wolfersheim said she pulled the permit
needed for the event and helped others organize and
raise money.
REC Chairman Travis Horn said he was aware Wolfersheim
was participating in the event, but said she was not
doing so as a representative of the party.
"We don't control what people do with their First
Amendment rights," he said.
Horn said he had seen the fliers in the office, but
only noticed that they advertised a "pro-USA veteran's
rally." The committee never authorized the use of the
name of their committee or party on the fliers and did
not contribute funds or resources to the event, the
chairman said.
The REC and other organizations affiliated with the
party were also mentioned in an e-mail announcement
sent by Wolfersheim promoting the event.
"The Swift Boat Vets for Truth, Vietnam Veterans
against Kerry, Veterans for Bush have asked us to
participate and join them in a political rally at the
downtown plaza," according to the e-mail, which is
signed Dineen Wolfersheim, Events Coordinator, ACREC
Secretary.
ACREC is the Alachua County Republican Executive
Committee.
Wolfersheim said she wrote the e-mail but did not
intend for it to be put into general distribution.
Republican groups did not sponsor the event, she said,
though they were invited to participate.
"In no way is this (event) sanctioned by my party or
my president," she said.
Though the event lacked speakers, it was not at a loss
for political organizations. Members of other veterans
groups supporting Bush attended, but did not speak.
Denny Baum, with Vietnam Veterans for Truth, was
initially slated to speak along with the swift boat
veterans, but said "legal issues" prevented him from
speaking at the event.
In the muggy, wet afternoon, activists from both
campaigns struggled for control of the plaza's stage,
with more than 70 Kerry supporters nearly crowding out
a smaller, pro-Bush contingent.
Between them, a third group tried to remain neutral on
the sharply divided political battleground.
Kerry supporters sang "America the Beautiful" and "God
Bless America" while Bush supporters recited the
Pledge of Allegiance. Heated debates over which man
was "fit for command" had supporters on both sides
engaged in a face-to-face war of words. A sea of red,
white and blue signs were held high, but the
atmosphere was anything but peaceful.
When Kerry supporters refused to leave the stage,
Wolfersheim called the Gainesville Police Department
to have them removed. After being asked to leave by
the police, the Kerry supporters moved onto the lawn
of the plaza, where they continued to argue with Bush
supporters on the stage before dispersing by 5:30 p.m.