Number Fourteen
Bush Flip Flopped on 527 groups. First he said they were part of the American process, then he opposed them.
According to an article on Chicago Tribune.com:
"These groups [527 groups] have had a major influence during the campaign--much more than anyone expected--and they present a legal challenge for regulators because of the important questions of free speech associated with the proliferating television ads.
Thursday's announcement from the White House came less than a day after Republican Sen. John McCain, a Vietnam veteran and co-sponsor of the nation's campaign finance law, said he was angered by the veterans' attacks on Kerry. McCain said he intended to personally express his unhappiness to Bush. The announcement also represents a reversal of Bush's position on 527s during his first presidential campaign, when he said the exchange of positive and negative television ads is 'part of the American process.'
'There have been ads, independent expenditures, that are saying bad things about me. I don't particularly care when they do, but that's what freedom of speech is all about,' Bush told CBS' 'Face the Nation,' in March 2000."
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