DNC Making Fraudulent Calls Falsely Claiming Schwarzkopf Backs Kerry

United Press International reports that Retired U.S. Army Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf demanded the Democratic National Committee stop telling voters he endorsed John Kerry for president:

"The Democratic National Committee is making fraudulent phone calls claiming that I have endorsed Sen. Kerry," Schwarzkopf said. "Nothing could be further from the truth, and I demand that they stop immediately."

An audio copy of the call, given to UPI with a copy of a statement from Schwarzkopf, says it was "paid for by the Democratic National Committee."

According to ABC's "Noted Now," the DNC's robo call says, "Hello, this is Norm Schwarzkopf. In 2000, I voted for George W. Bush. This year, I'm voting for John Kerry. George Bush took his eye off the ball in the war on terror…"

Schwarzkopf' explains that he does not support Kerry because of Kerry's opposition to the Reagan defense build up, Kerry's opposition to the removal of Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, and Kerry's support for billions in intelligence cuts following the first bombing of the World Trade Center as reasons for his opposition to Kerry:

"Sen. Kerry has a record of weakness that gives me no confidence in his ability to fight and win the War on Terror. His attempt to make up for these deficiencies by falsifying my endorsement only confirms my impression that he is not the man we need to lead our nation," Schwarzkopf said. "I am supporting President Bush for re-election, because he is the candidate who has demonstrated the conviction needed to defeat terrorism."

This type of dirty trick is truly despicable as there is no time to even try to undo the damage it could do to the Bush campaign in a Florida, which Zogby's latest Battle Ground Poll found to be tied.

UPDATE: The plot thickens.

Fellow Red Stater Krempasky posted: UPI notwithstanding, and just to be clear - there's some serious questions about this story - I'm working on digging it up.

After reading Krempasky post this morning I discovered that ABC's "Noted Now" now posts:

DEMS ALLEGE CALL WAS EDITED FROM GEN. McPEAK ROBO CALL: "Hi, I'm General Tony McPeak and as Chief of the air force during the first Gulf War, I worked closely with Colin Powell and Norm Schwarzkopf. In 2000, I voted for George W. Bush. This year I'm voting for John Kerry. George Bush took his eye off the ball and the war on terror and took us into a poorly planned war in Iraq."

DNC Communications Director Jano Cabrera issued the following statement:

"This is a desperate, pathetic, 11th hour dirty trick by the Republicans. In an effort to gin up a last minute media controversy and smear the Democrats, the Republicans intentionally spliced a recorded call by Four Star General 'Tony' McPeak and tried to peddle it to the press. This type of dishonesty is a fitting end to George W. Bush's failed Presidency, a Presidency that unfortunately for the American people, was also defined by deceit and deception."

General McPeak’s recorded telephone call is available for download at:

http://a9.g.akamai.net/7/9/8082/v003/democratic1.download.akamai.com/8082/audio/20041101_mcpeak.wav

Transcript of General McPeak’s call:

Hi, I'm General Tony McPeak and as Chief of the air force during the first Gulf War, I worked closely with Colin Powell and Norm Schwarzkopf. In 2000, I voted for George W. Bush. This year I'm voting for John Kerry. George Bush took his eye off the ball and the war on terror and took us into a poorly planned war in Iraq, letting Al Qaeda, the people responsible for September 11th attack on us, regroup. John Kerry has a real plan to make the military stronger and to go after the terrorists wherever they hide. On November 2 we need to vote for change, a vote for John Kerry.

More as it becomes available.

Comments

[RandMan]

This can't be true, as Democrats reached the moral high ground decades ago and never relinquished it. They would never stoop so low. General Schwarzkopf must be lying. Yeah. That's it.