EDITORIAL
Bush is correct to dismiss attack ads

President Bush took a good step in the right direction yesterday when he publicly condemned television commercials produced by an independent group that attack Democrat John Kerry's war record.

But the president made it clear his criticism was directed not just at those ads — produced by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth — but at ads produced by any and all such independent groups.

Bush has been the target of negative ads produced by groups such as MoveOn.Org, which benefitted from billions of dollars in support from investor George Soros and others.

In fact, spending on the anti-Bush ads has far outstripped what the Swift Boat group has spent thus far to target Kerry.

So strategically, one can see why the president would seek to condemn any such activity.

And he is right. This campaign should be about what Bush and Kerry have to say about the issues facing the country today and tomorrow.

The charade that these other groups are independent is just that, a charade. Voters should ignore them.