The Washington Times - The campaign of Sen. John Kerry yesterday accused NASA of leaking a widely circulated photo that shows the candidate wrapped from top to bottom in a baby blue "bunny suit," implying that it was a "dirty trick."
One campaign official told The Washington Times last night: "All I can say is it was not an authorized release."
But the National Aeronautics and Space Administration told Fox News that the Kerry team saw the photos before publication and passed on their release.
A NASA spokesman told the top-rated cable network that the images were given to the Kerry campaign to review before several were posted on the Kennedy Space Center Web site.
In no way were photographs "leaked," the spokesman said.
But campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill said in an interview with Fox, "This was a leaked photo."
She said the campaign never was told that the photographs, which are drawing ridicule and comparison with the Michael Dukakis "tank" photo on the Internet and talk radio, would be taken during a campaign stop at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
From these photos I think its pretty clear that Kerry knew there were going to be photos during the tour of the facility even if his campaign didn't.
I really don't see where NASA is guilty of playing any dirty tricks. They didn't force Kerry to put on that silly looking suit. They didn't force him to take the tour. They certainly didn't force him to pose for pictures.
This is really just about the worst way Kerry's campaign could be handling this. So he looks a little silly. Why not have Kerry incorporate the photos into a speech or something so he can make a self-deprecating joke or two? It'd probably go a long way toward helping him make that elusive "connection" with voters he's been trying to make for the last few months.
It'd certainly be better than his campaign whining about it. That just makes him seem petty and small.