War hero Sen. John McCain said it will take an act of Congress or the courts to muzzle the anti-John Kerry veterans who have rocked the presidential campaign.
“I’m not even sure a specific denunciation by President Bush would stop them,” said McCain (R-Ariz.). “The only thing that will stop these things is a court order or legislatively.”
The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have launched ads and collaborated on the best-selling book, “Unfit for Command,” slamming Kerry’s military service.
Their claims have become the campaign’s bombshell X-factor, with nearly half of all voters now believing Kerry lied or exaggerated his war record, according to a recent poll.
“I’ve never seen anything like it in the 22 years I’ve been active in politics,” McCain told CBS’s “Face the Nation” yesterday. “I wanted President Bush to condemn the ads specifically, but if we can get the Democrats to join us – and I hope they will – we will force these [outside groups] not to be banned, but to live under the same rules that everybody else does.”
Bush is teaming with McCain to seek court action requiring 527s to be governed by strict fund-raising guidelines, instead of being allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts.