Swift Boats Are A Comin' !!

Ex-Swift Boaters Donate to McCain
By Fredreka Schouten,USA Today
Posted: 2008-07-01 13:16:09

WASHINGTON (July 1)Republican John McCain, who four years ago condemned
independent ads challenging Democrat John Kerry's military record, has accepted
nearly $70,000 for his presidential campaign from the top donors of the group
behind the attack ads and their relatives, a USA TODAY analysis shows.
That's nearly four times the amount McCain received from those donors in the 14
years before launching his current campaign at the end of 2006, campaign finance
records show.
In 2004, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (later called SwiftVets and POWS for
Truth) bankrolled ads charging that Kerry had lied about the incidents in
Vietnam that led to his military decorations. The group included former members
of the Navy who served in the same kind of river patrol boats as Kerry. McCain,
a former Vietnam prisoner of war, called the group's advertising "dishonest and
dishonorable."
McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds said in an e-mail that McCain accepted
the money because the donors are "interested in supporting (his) agenda of
reform, prosperity and peace." He said McCain has been critical of so-called 527
groups — named for the tax code section under which they operate — and argued
that "virtually every attack-style 527 group on the airwaves" is aiding Democrat
Barack Obama.
Obama recently cited 527s as a reason he decided to bypass public-financing in
the general election.
Outside groups have spent nearly $10 million to aid Obama in this election,
according to data compiled by the non-partisan CQMoneyLine, which tracks
campaign money. Independent groups have spent less than $50,000 on McCain's
behalf.