ABCNEWS.com : Bias Claimed As Anti-Kerry Book Sells Out
ABCNEWS.com : Bias Claimed As Anti-Kerry Book Sells Out
Bias Claimed As Anti-Kerry Book Sells Out
Customers Claim Political Bias As Bookstores Struggle to Keep Up With Demand for Anti-Kerry Book
The Associated Press
NEW YORK Aug. 24, 2004 — The nation's two biggest bookstore chains, Barnes & Noble and Borders, say angry customers are accusing them of political bias as the retailers struggle to keep up with demand for a best seller that questions John Kerry's military service in Vietnam.
"Unfit for Command," which went on sale Aug. 11 with a first printing of 85,000, will have 550,000 copies in print by next week, according to Regnery Publishing.
Sales have soared as allegations about the Democratic nominee's wartime actions dominate the presidential campaign.
A co-author of the book, John O'Neill, is a member of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which has ran a series of commercials claiming Kerry distorted his past. Kerry and fellow Democrats say the spots are untrue and have demanded that President Bush condemn them. Bush replied Monday that broadcast attacks by outside groups, no matter which side, should have no place in the race for the White House.
"Unfit for Command," by O'Neill and Jerome Corsi, accuses Kerry of lying about his decorated wartime record and betraying comrades by returning from Vietnam and alleging widespread atrocities by U.S. troops. Kerry has made his military service a central part of his campaign.
Copies of the book are scarce. Barnes & Noble said that "Unfit for Command" is out of stock and that thousands of complaints have been received, with some customers saying the book was deliberately not being sold and others saying it shouldn't be sold.
More copies will not be available until later this week, and that order also will not meet demand, Barnes & Noble CEO Steve Riggio said Monday. "We've been put in the difficult position of having to defend ourselves over a title we can't seem to get enough copies of from the publisher," Riggio said.
Bias Claimed As Anti-Kerry Book Sells Out
Customers Claim Political Bias As Bookstores Struggle to Keep Up With Demand for Anti-Kerry Book
The Associated Press
NEW YORK Aug. 24, 2004 — The nation's two biggest bookstore chains, Barnes & Noble and Borders, say angry customers are accusing them of political bias as the retailers struggle to keep up with demand for a best seller that questions John Kerry's military service in Vietnam.
"Unfit for Command," which went on sale Aug. 11 with a first printing of 85,000, will have 550,000 copies in print by next week, according to Regnery Publishing.
Sales have soared as allegations about the Democratic nominee's wartime actions dominate the presidential campaign.
A co-author of the book, John O'Neill, is a member of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which has ran a series of commercials claiming Kerry distorted his past. Kerry and fellow Democrats say the spots are untrue and have demanded that President Bush condemn them. Bush replied Monday that broadcast attacks by outside groups, no matter which side, should have no place in the race for the White House.
"Unfit for Command," by O'Neill and Jerome Corsi, accuses Kerry of lying about his decorated wartime record and betraying comrades by returning from Vietnam and alleging widespread atrocities by U.S. troops. Kerry has made his military service a central part of his campaign.
Copies of the book are scarce. Barnes & Noble said that "Unfit for Command" is out of stock and that thousands of complaints have been received, with some customers saying the book was deliberately not being sold and others saying it shouldn't be sold.
More copies will not be available until later this week, and that order also will not meet demand, Barnes & Noble CEO Steve Riggio said Monday. "We've been put in the difficult position of having to defend ourselves over a title we can't seem to get enough copies of from the publisher," Riggio said.