I have been thinking about a simple but effective way for Kerry, in the debates, to plant the seed of Bush lies so firmly in the swing voters minds that everything Bush says is tainted.
The problem, as much discussed around here, is that if he flat out calls Bush a liar he will be slammed for his disrespect. But most of the alternatives seem weak-kneed when strength is clearly the order of the day.
The best I have come up with is a mantra (often a very effective speech technique) that goes like this:
You can keep saying it Mr. President... BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE IT TRUE.
A few obvious examples:
"You can keep saying things are improving in Iraq... BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE IT TRUE.
"You can keep saying that Saddam had something to do with 9/11... BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE IT TRUE."
"You can keep saying that you made the right decision to stop going after Osama Bin Laden and focus on Iraq... BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE IT TRUE."
"You can say 'Mission Accomplished'... BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE IT TRUE."
There are almost endless versions of this on any of the issues of this campaign ("You can say that your billion dollar tax giveaway went to a majority of people... BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE IT TRUE".)
An important side benefit of this approach is that it allows Kerry to frame the quotes in the first place.