The Power Of Film Editing

Last night, MSNBC's Matthews discussed Bush's referring to Kerry as the "anti-war" candidate based on a previous "Hardball" interview. The Bush-Cheney ad, produced by the RNC and running on kerryoniraq.com plays as follows:
Matthews: "Are you one of the anti-war candidates?" Kerry: "I am. Yes."
Matthews: "About 220 days ago, John Kerry was on 'Hardball' and I asked him about his views on Iraq. Let's watch that exchange as it actually happened."
(Video of Kerry/Matthews) Matthews: "Are you one of the anti-war candidates?"
Kerry: "I am. Yes. In the sense that I don't believe the president took to us war as he should have, yes. Absolutely. Do I think this president violated his promises to America? Yes, I do. Was there a way to hold Saddam Hussein accountable? You bet there was and we should have done it right."
Kerry adviser Tad Devine, on if it's appropriate for Bush/Cheney to use that footage in calling Kerry an "anti-war" candidate: "No. It was completely inaccurate, totally misleading and part of a conscious campaign on the part of the president and the vice president to distort the truth and mislead the American people."
Bush-Cheney strategist Matthew Dowd, on if Bush reflected the Kerry footage accurately: "Yes. Obviously. The impression John Kerry was trying to leave when he was up against Howard Dean in the primary was he was the anti-war candidate after he voted for the resolution. That's obviously what he was trying to do. He was trying to leave the impression that he either was the anti-war candidate or was becoming the anti-war candidate."
Matthews, to Dowd: "Would you like to have your sentences cut down like to a third of their length and let people decide on the first three or four words what you meant by the 20 words? ... I think you guys should consider taking this off your loop. I think the president ought to be shown this tape so he knows what he's talking about, instead of having it fed to him by somebody who doesn't show them full sentence" (8/16).

(da The Hotline)