…just keeps going, and going, and going…
Here’s the latest from Florida Today. The Kerry people didn’t just shoot themselves in the unlucky rabbit’s foot on this one. They kept reloading:
Kerry’s campaign team asked for the pictures and helped pass them out to reporters, NASA said. Once the photos surfaced on Web sites and in newspapers, becoming joke fodder for pundits at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Kerry’s campaign got defensive.
The Kerry team hinted at dirty tricks. Campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill said the pictures were not meant to go public.
NASA routinely photographs touring dignitaries and posts them online. Kerry’s group included four current or former U.S. senators. Two of them, Glenn and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Melbourne, flew in space. So there was nothing unusual about publicizing the photos…
…NASA did not elaborate on whether lawyers deemed the Kerry campaign event Monday was an improper use of the Visitor Center. Nor did the agency say how it differed from the ways other politicians have used NASA locations and high-profile space events for political purposes.
It’s wabbit season!
That’s what irritated me about this. There was no “high-profile space event” here. It was simply using a NASA center as a prop to talk about things that had nothing to do with space. It was purely a campaign event, and despite Lori Garver’s flimsy defense of him (and I like Lori), the senator continues to strike me as someone who is as profoundly unserious on the space issue as he is on all others, except for achieving his lifelong dream of being the second JFK.
Actually, if Kerry is smart, he will try to turn this around and use it to his advantage. If he shows that picture and jokes about it, he can defuse some of the brouhaha. His next sentence should be to play the patriotism angle–talk about the hero alongside him, John Glenn, and the brave people who fly into space. Lay it on thick. Talk about wonderful American values such as courage, ambition, dedication, etc. He could easily spin this whole incident into motherhood, apple pie, and the flag. And he could do it all without once mentioning the NASA budget.