John Kerry campaign officials strongly questioned the timing of the Olympic Games today, claiming that the Games were an attempt by Republicans to manipulate voters to "root for America".

"Once Americans start rooting for their compatriots to beat athletes from France or Russia or Japan, the next thing you know they'll starting rooting for America to win the War on Terror too," said Kerry campaign spokesman John Hurley. "I find it highly suspicious that the Olympics just happen to fall right before the Republican National Convention."

Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe claimed this was a desperate move by Republicans to draw attention away from Kerry's lifetime of service. "Michael Phelps winning 8 Olympic medals is a great accomplishment, but it's nowhere near as impressive as the medals John Kerry won. He was in Vietnam, by the way," he said.

A Kerry campaign volunteer appeared to confirm a link between the Bush/Cheney campaign and the International Olympic Committee. Bill Shilling, a Kerry volunteer in Florida, faxed the cover (shown above) of a Sports Illustrated magazine featuring US Olympians Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin to news organizations Saturday. Shilling says he picked up the Sports Illustrated at Bush/Cheney headquarters in Gainesville. "It was just sitting on a table in the middle of the room," Shilling said. "The Bush volunteers didn't even think it was a big deal. I asked them when the Men's 4x100 Medley Relay was on and some woman told me she thought it was Saturday night. And then, she said, 'go USA!'. I couldn't believe it!"

"This is just another one of Karl Rove's dirty tricks," McAuliffe said. "Republicans want voters to wave the flag, chant 'USA! USA!' and root for our country, but John Kerry won't stand by quietly and let that happen. It's about time that someone stood up for the rest of the world."

McAuliffe stated that the Kerry campaign was considering petitioning the FCC for equal time on NBC, the network airing the Olympics. The campaign plans to show a film of American "lowlights" directed by Michael Moore.