I'd heard this comment that Kerry supposedly made re: Bush and the bicycle, but this article implies that it was made up (note that this site has a 'mission' of correcting the rightist bias in the generally-acknowledged liberal media):
http://mediamatters.org/items/printable/200405240004 "On May 24, the Drudge Report linked to a Washington Times article on comments Senator John Kerry allegedly made about President George W. Bush's May 22 bicycle accident, completing a conservative misinformation-laundering operation that began when Drudge first reported the alleged comments the day before. Sandwiched between a photo of Kerry in a bicycle helmet and a photo of Bush waving, his hand and face scraped and bleeding, the May 23 Drudge Report featured the following blurb: President fell off bike Saturday.. Kerry told reporters in front of cameras, 'Did the training wheels fall off?'... Reporters are debating whether to treat it is as on or off the record... [All ellipses and typographical errors in original] By 6:12 GMT, May 24, the Drudge item was joined by a link to a Washington Times article titled "Kerry pokes fun at Bush mishap"; the Drudge link to the Times article read "Kerry pokes fun at Bush mishap..." The Washington Times article cited Matt Drudge as its source for the Kerry quote.... ....The Washington Times seemed to suggest - but didn't directly report -- that the Kerry campaign confirmed the comments: Interviewed by The Washington Times yesterday, Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter would say only that the words Mr. Drudge reported were "off the record." By 6:16 GMT, Drudge had removed his own item about Kerry's comment, leaving only the link to the Washington Times article." I saw portions of a couple of these May 23 broadcasts, and was puzzled that Bush's poll approval could fall without Kerry's going up; turns out that Safire was wrong: http://mediamatters.org/items/printable/200405250001 "...During a May 23 panel appearance on Meet the Press, Safire claimed that, despite problems in Iraq, Senator John Kerry had not gone up in the polls: "The prison scandal on top of all the casualties and the fact that the president's ratings have gone down is logical. One would expect that. The fact that Kerry hasn't gone up is very interesting." But according to a May 21 poll, support for Kerry has increased: "As Americans express growing unease about Iraq, President Bush's job approval rating has taken a hit, according to a poll released Friday by CNN and Time magazine. That development appears to be helping Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. He wins the support of 51 percent of likely voters, compared to 46 percent for Bush. In February, Bush was ahead of Kerry by two percentage points..." Debbi Them Fermions An' Bosons Got Nuthin' On Us Spinners Maru __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Friends. Fun. Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger. http://messenger.yahoo.com/
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