Miller's attack on Kerry could hurt Bush
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| Sat, 09-04-2004 - 6:31pm |
NEW YORK -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has pushed for more civility in this year's presidential race, is warning that the biting, angry attack on Sen. John Kerry by a fellow Democrat at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night might harm President Bush's efforts to woo swing voters.
McCain said the keynote address by Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.) could prove as controversial as a speech by Patrick Buchanan at the 1992 GOP convention in Houston.
"I think it backfires," McCain said of Miller's rhetorical assault on Kerry. He added that it "makes Buchanan's speech look milquetoast."
McCain made his comments to reporters at a party he held after the convention's Wednesday session ended.
Buchanan's speech, in which he declared a "culture war" was under way in America, was thought by many Republicans to have hurt the re-election bid of Bush's father, then-President George H.W. Bush. The elder Bush lost the November vote to Democrat Bill Clinton.
Miller's keynote address was laced with harsh criticism of Kerry's legislative record on military issues. Marshall Wittmann, McCain's spokesman, said the senator favors a less divisive approach to political debate.
"This is not his style," Wittmann said. "He would prefer to see Democrats not as our enemies, but rather as Americans who have good intentions but policy differences" with Republicans.
McCain has campaigned for the younger Bush's re-election and continues that effort in coming days, appearing on the president's behalf in New Mexico and Wisconsin.
But he also has denounced ads by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth criticizing Kerry's military service in Vietnam and his protests against that war. McCain has urged the White House to condemn the ads.

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It is McCain's *opinion* that Zell Miller's speech would not work with swing voters, but I disagree. After seeing his speech my brother who has never voted Republican, and who has a religious-like irrational hatred for Republicans (except me, of course) decided to rethink his vote this year. So, from personal experience I will (again) offer a difference of opinion with Senator McCain.
He only denounced the first Swiftboat vets ad. The one that questioned Kerry's medals. He said anything that Kerry did after he returned from the war was fair game.
Senator McCain knows how to get his name in the papers. I think he's mostly out for free publicity. He's garnering all this press respect for another run in '08. He knows if he walks like a Democrat, and talks like a Democrat he will be the darling of the media. Check out his voting record though. He's one of the most conservative senators there.
"My job tonight is an easy one: to present to you one of this nation's authentic heroes, one of this party's best-known and greatest leaders -- and a good friend. He was once a lieutenant governor -- but he didn't stay in that office 16 years, like someone else I know. It just took two years before the people of Massachusetts moved him into the United States Senate in 1984. -- U.S. Senator Zell Miller
"In his 16 years in the Senate, John Kerry has fought against government waste and worked hard to bring some accountability to Washington. Early in his Senate career in 1986, John signed on to the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Bill, and he fought for balanced budgets before it was considered politically correct for Democrats to do so. John has worked to strengthen our military, reform public education, boost the economy and protect the environment.” -- U.S. Senator Zell Miller
His endorsement of Bush makes sense in that context.
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