Posted on 11/24/2003 11:05:59 AM PST by kattracks
In a press release issued by Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign on Sunday, former Sen. Max Cleland slammed front-runner Howard Dean for dodging the draft during Vietnam - the war that turned Cleland into a triple amputee."At a time when young Americans are being killed and wounded by President Bush’s failed policy in Iraq, we don’t need another governor who ran from going to Vietnam and leading our country," Cleland complained.
"We cannot afford to have a leader who weaseled out of going to Vietnam on a medical deferment for a bad back and wound up on the ski slopes of Aspen like Howard Dean," the Georgia Democrat railed.
Cleland, who has endorsed fellow Vietnam veteran Kerry for president, was reacting to Dean's comments to the New York Times on Saturday, where he explained how he went to for his draft physical in 1970 armed with x-rays and a note from his doctor.
"It was like a scene from the movie 'Alice's Restaurant,' " Dean told the paper, referring to Arlo Guthrie's 1969 hippie anti-war anthem.
The presidential candidate hoped a condition known as spondylolysis, a low-back pain that sometimes radiates into the legs, would help him beat the draft. And it did, with military doctors reclassifying Dean, who had just graduated from Yale, from a 2S student deferment to 1Y, which meant he'd be called up only as a last resort.
But Cleland and others are grousing that Dean's bad back was less of a disability than a convenient excuse not to serve, since he spent most of the next year skiing the slopes of Aspen, Colo.
Asked if he could have served if he really wanted to, Dean told the Times, "I guess that's probably true. I mean, I was in no hurry to get into the military."
Even Dean's mother, Andree Maitland Dean, didn't sound particulary proud of the way her son handled the draft, telling a recent interviewer, "Yeah, that looks bad."
I suspect W will eventually get credit for this!
XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX MON NOV 24, 2003 11:02:52 ET XXXXX
HIGH-LEVEL KERRY STAFFERS OVERHEARD PLOTTING IN IOWA HOTEL BAR: SENATOR TO RIDE MORE MOTORCYCLES, CULTIVATE 'PROTESTER' CREDENTIALS; DEAN CASH 'COMING FROM REPUBLICANS'
**Exclusive**
On the eve of a Tom-Brokaw moderated Democratic Presidential Debate, Senior Kerry advisers recklessly strategized over refreshments at the Hotel Fort Des Moines -- believing they were out of earshot to anyone who would care!
But as the caucus nears even stripped Iowa cornstalks have ears.
MORE
The campaign advisers spoke frankly at the hotel's bar on Sunday night about the state of the White House race and their frustrations of living in the shadow of Howard Dean.
All of Dean's money is coming from Republicans, one member of Kerry's kitchen cabinet told the group. Another adviser asked if that had been researched. No one had an answer.
The staff said Kerry should -- and will -- use a motorcycle for campaigning more often.
MORE
The advisers discussed how Kerry should stop trying to defend his Iraq vote and develop how Kerry's the real anti-war protester, not Dean.
The staffers talked about doing an ad where they would contrast Kerry's anti-war activism with Dean as a draft-dodging ski bum. The ad would feature vault clips of Kerry speaking at anti-war rallies and testifying on Capitol Hill vs. Dean statements on how he could have served in the military, but decided not to.
The Kerry staffers talked about the possibility of doing a documentary on the campaign, like the one Spike Jonze did with Gore. One frustrated operative said it would help with Kerry's "aloof" image problem.
The advisers carelessly talked about how thick Kerry's accent used to be.
Kerry did the thick accent when cameras were around to sound like JFK, laughed one senior staffer.
[In the spirit of the holiday season the DRUDGE REPORT will not reveal the names of those in attendance.]
He must be referring to Governor Clinton of Arkansas.
I agree, NO MORE CLINTON'S!!!!!!!!!
Where were ya in '92 Max?
Nope - It will be a scene out of political commercials coming soon...
But then again, Cleland may have had Clinton in mind afterall!
But there was kind of a code. Risking jail and citizenship and being able to come back home after emigrating...kind of accepted. Becoming a social worker, or Math teacher, or some other exempted job...accepted. Grad school, Reserves, Coast Guard...accepted.
Using an obviously bogus exemption and doing an in-your-face thing like being a rich boy skiing at Aspen...over the top. It must particularly rankle people like Gore and Kerry who signed up and went (although they probably had the pull not to) to have spoiled brat, rich boy Dean doin' up the slopes while saying he was ineligible. Why wasn't he in jail for the draft dodging? Is it too late to nail him for it? (wishful thinking)
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