Posted on 03/16/2004 2:43:41 PM PST by Pokey78
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry promised to be a "veteran's veteran" Tuesday as the White House tried to sour his support among a key constituency by airing a commercial accusing him of rejecting funding for soldiers at war in Iraq.
Kerry warned an audience of veterans that President Bush has misled the country on everything from the war to the economy and had broken promises to veterans needing health care. From the Oval Office on Tuesday, Bush questioned Kerry's own truthfulness by calling for him to identify the world leaders Kerry has said would rather see him as president.
In his first visit to West Virginia since becoming the presumptive nominee, Kerry was seeking to define himself as a war hero. The state, with 203,000 veterans, or 15.4 percent of its adult population, is home to more veterans per capita than all but Alaska, Montana, Nevada and Wyoming. Although solidly Democratic in past elections, West Virginia sided with Bush instead of Al Gore in 2000. Its five electoral votes would be essential in another close election.
"Nothing is more important than telling the American people the truth about the economy, health care, and war and peace," Kerry told veterans in Huntington. "This administration has yet to level with the American people."
In a nod to Mountain State geography, Kerry said, "On issue after issue, this president's misleading misstatements have produced a credibility gap as big as the New River Gorge."
Although Kerry has said he won't break confidences and reveal which overseas leaders have told him they back his campaign, Bush told reporters, "If you're going to make an accusation in the course of a presidential campaign, you ought to back it up with facts."
For the second day in a row, Vice President Dick Cheney criticized Kerry at a Republican fund-raiser. "We are the ones who get to determine the outcome of this election, not unnamed foreign leaders," Cheney told donors at a benefit for Rep. Bob Beauprez, R-Colo.
Howard Dean, Kerry's former rival, said he agreed with Kerry's decision not to name the leaders and that it was "silly" for the Bush administration to suggest he reveal them, "given the proclivity of this administration to threaten those both home and abroad who are candid."
"If I were Senator Kerry I wouldn't name those names because this administration would clearly make their lives difficult," said Dean, a former governor of Vermont.
Joining Kerry in Huntington were seven members of swift boats he commanded in Vietnam, service that won Kerry three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star. At the same time, the Bush campaign released a television ad accusing Kerry of being "wrong on defense" by not supporting bills that would have ensured troops had body armor and higher combat pay and given reservists and their families better health care.
"Few votes in Congress are as important as funding our troops at war. Though John Kerry voted in October of 2002 for military action in Iraq, he later voted against funding our soldiers," the ad says.
Kerry labeled the ad "another distortion," arguing that he would have supported funding for the troops if Bush had eased his tax cut to avoid exploding the deficit.
"I'm not going to worry about the misleading," Kerry said. "I'm going to keep pounding away at the truth. We're going to build an army of truth-tellers."
Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt rejected Kerry's argument, charging Kerry with abandoning troops.
"While he falsely attacks the president over veteran's funding, John Kerry authorized our troops to liberate Iraq and then voted against funding for body armor, increased combat pay and health care to support them," Schmidt said.
Kerry faulted Bush's handling of the economy, pointing to a Congressional Budget Office study that said only 6 percent of the nation's deficit can be attributed to cyclical economic issues.
Kerry also sought to counter Bush's charge by bringing along a series of decorated local veterans. Don Kinnard, state commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a seven-tour veteran of the Vietnam War, said veterans like Kerry have earned a special status.
"They have unquestionable patriotism," Kinnard said.
Kerry said Bush's commitment to veterans is suspect, noting that the president has slashed billions from Veterans Administration spending "that would drive 200,000 veterans from the VA health care system."
"Our veterans' health care shouldn't depend on the yearly whims of budget cutters," he said. "When I am president, we will make the funding for veterans health care mandatory."
Kerry was returning to Washington on Wednesday for a speech before flying to Ketchum, Idaho, to begin a five-day vacation.
"If I were Senator Kerry I wouldn't name those names because this administration would clearly make their lives difficult," said Dean, a former governor of Vermont.
BTW, so much for the Boston Globe reporter's pathetic attempt to help Kerry end this business. Everybody acknowledges (unless MSNBC still doesn't get it) that Kerry is claiming he's heard from foreign leaders, not "more" leaders.
Three purple hearts in four months?
Bandaid Purple hearts? Who commandated him?
A silver star for violating all naval rules of engagement to get a war trophy??? Exposing his charges to hazards when he grounded his boat to get "the prize"? Commanders don't leave their post for such action...they send their enlisted to do that.
How many enemy have you seen survive a 50 round burst of .50 cal bmg?
Something smells here...and it ain't the truth!
I've said it before: This POS does not speak for me or to me.
I consider him to be a traitor and a turncoat.
I do not honor him for his service, as he absolutely dishonored himself by his own actions and words.
The man is despicable, he is a gigolo and he is a slacker, not even being able to maintain a decent attendance record at his current job.
He is representative of everything that is wrong with the democRATic party and is the poster boy of goofy, lying liberals.
He can take his VN service and shove it up his fifth point of contact. It cuts no ice with me, whatsoever.
More likely a pri-k's pri-ck!
He also criticized Nixon for trying to request the return of prisoners of war before the war ended.I want to see how that plays in veteran's groups!In '72 speech, a different kind of Kerry.
Senator Covered Up Evidence of P.O.W.'s Left Behind - When John Kerry's Courage Went M.I.A.:
Senator John Kerry, a decorated battle veteran, was courageous as a navy lieutenant in the Vietnam War. But he was not so courageous more than two decades later, when he covered up voluminous evidence that a significant number of live American prisoners—perhaps hundreds—were never acknowledged or returned after the war-ending treaty was signed in January 1973.
The Massachusetts senator, now seeking the presidency, carried out this subterfuge a little over a decade ago — shredding documents, suppressing testimony, and sanitizing the committee's final report—when he was chairman of the Senate Select Committee on P.O.W./ M.I.A. Affairs.
Over the years, an abundance of evidence had come to light that the North Vietnamese, while returning 591 U.S. prisoners of war after the treaty signing, had held back many others as future bargaining chips for the $4 billion or more in war reparations that the Nixon administration had pledged. Hanoi didn't trust Washington to fulfill its pro-mise without pressure. Similarly, Washington didn't trust Hanoi to return all the prisoners and carry out all the treaty provisions. The mistrust on both sides was merited. Hanoi held back prisoners and the U.S. provided no reconstruction funds. ...
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