Chad,
Exactly.
Fredster,
Her stated goal has always been to "bring her son's buddies home" from what she perceives as an unjust war, so that no additional mother has to feel the grief she feels. That core mission has not changed. Sure, the methodologies she's used to further that mission have evolved, but that's just smart manuvering. We live in a fast-food /24-hr news-cycle society and I think she's been pretty savvy about keeping attention focused on her group and her mission. She's using those groups, more than they are using her. You seem to be forgetting the fact that she wasn't anything but an average mother, before her son was killed.
She has galvanized the debate somewhat, but I think in the beginning she peeled off a lot of soccer moms and moderates from supporting the war.
Bush could have shut the whole thing down if he would have talked to her, for that second time. But instead he hid inside his ranch, and only fueled speculation that he hasn't a clue about how to handle America's questions about the war.
If anybody thought that the swift boat vets were tools, then they should feel the same about this. It's the same thing. Exactly.
This couldn't be farther from the truth. The Swift Liars were headed by a Nixonian attack dog (
John E. O'Neill) that had been hounding Kerry since the 70's, and funded by the Republican establishment. Sheehan is NOT being funded by establishment Democrats. Futhermore, every single accusation they made turned out to be FALSE. So, unless Sheehan's son is still alive, she has a thousand times more credibility than the Swift Liars ever did.
The huge, gaping difference between the two groups, besides the genuine validity of their claims, is that Sheehan is receiving funds from citizens and citizen-based action groups, whereas the Swift Liars received funding from GOP operatives and corporate donors (Sinclair Broadcasting, etc)
One was a highly coordinated and politically motivated attack based on misleading and/or downright false accusations designed to swing an election, another is a grassroots movement spurred on by the loss of a mother's son and designed to bring troops home from an horribly planned and executed war. To say it was politically motivated belies the fact that Sheehan, initally, gave the President the benefit of the doubt when he made the case for war. No comparison between the two groups.
mrC