March 28, 2007
John Kerry: Swift Boat This
President Bush has withdrawn the nomination of a major donor to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the 527 group that rocked 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry's ultimately doomed campaign for the presidency. Sam Fox, the CEO and chairman of an equity management company, was Bush's pick to be U.S. ambassador to Belgium.
"'We received word that because of politics some members of the Senate were going to vote against'" Fox, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a Bloomberg News report.
Indeed, with three Democratic WH '08 candidates plus Kerry sitting on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Fox's nomination was in trouble from the start. The White House informed the committee of its decision just before members were to vote on the nomination.
Fox was grilled by Democrats on the committee during hearings leading up to today's canceled vote. "Might I ask you what your opinion is with respect to the state of American politics as regards the politics of personal destruction?" Kerry asked yesterday. Fox contributed about $50,000 to the Swift Boat Vets, a group comprising Vietnam veterans who alleged that Kerry, a triple Purple Heart honoree, distorted facts about his service in the war.
At one point during the tense exchange, Fox told Kerry, "Senator, you're a hero. And there isn’t anybody or anything that's going to take that away from you."
"Sam Fox had every opportunity to disavow the politics of personal destruction and to embrace the truth," Kerry said today. "He chose not to. The White House made the right decision to withdraw the nomination. I hope this signals a new day in political discourse."
The Swift Boat Vets, whose attacks on Kerry were later found to be less than truthful, have already resurfaced this presidential election cycle. Bob Perry, a Texas businessman and major Swift Boat Vets donor, has signed on as a fundraiser for Republican candidate Mitt Romney.
Posted at 3:04 PM
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Campaigns, Democrats, John Kerry, Mitt Romney, President Bush, WH 2008
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