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Fred Barnes: The Bloody Shirt Is Back (Did you know John Kerry served in Vietnam?)
The Weekly Standard ^ | August 30, 2004 | Fred Barnes

Posted on 08/20/2004 8:59:58 PM PDT by RWR8189

THERE'S NEVER BEEN a presidential campaign like John Kerry's. Never has a presidential nominee made his own experience in a war the centerpiece of his campaign for the White House. In 1960, John F. Kennedy didn't hide his World War II record as commander of PT-109, but he didn't talk it up either. When asked about being a hero, he mocked the idea and said it stemmed from having his boat shot out from under him. John McCain's experience as a POW in Vietnam was well known when he ran for the Republican nomination in 2000. But he rarely mentioned it, except to note that his longest place of residence was Hanoi. Kerry is different. His speeches, TV ads, interviews, the entire Democratic convention--all have dwelled on his four months in Vietnam and the five medals he was awarded.

And there's still another unique aspect. Never has a presidential nominee run on the basis of his role in a war he opposed. Dwight Eisenhower, Teddy Roosevelt, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, and the five ex-Union officers in the Civil War who became president benefited politically from their participation and leadership in a war. Most of them, in fact, were famous for their wartime service. Kerry, by contrast, became famous as a war protester, as the leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, who charged that war crimes were being committed by American troops in Vietnam on a daily basis. Now Kerry has stood the Vietnam issue on its head. He insists it's his war record that shows he would be a strong president.

Why is Kerry leaning so heavily on his performance in Vietnam? It's a bulwark against attacks on his weak record on defense and national security as a U.S. senator since 1985. In an era of terrorist attacks, his votes to cut intelligence spending, indeed his overall dovishness, are liabilities. So the theme of nearly every speaker at the Democratic convention in July was that Kerry's Vietnam service, not his Senate record, reflects the kind of president he would be. "I defended this country as a young man and I will defend it as president," Kerry declared.

The two convention speeches leading up to Kerry's were delivered by Vietnam vets, and during Kerry's speech, a group of his former Swift boat crewmates stood behind him. "I thought I was watching the VFW convention," quipped Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia. Former senator Max Cleland, a triple amputee, was quick to tell the delegates that Kerry had earned "a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts." Retired General Wesley Clark talked up Kerry's moments in combat. "John Kerry has heard the thump of enemy mortars," Clark said. "He's seen the flash of the tracers. . . . He proved his physical courage under fire."

Has a candidate's having heard "the thump" of mortars or seen the "flash of tracers" ever before been used as grounds for election? Not in recent memory anyway. Harry Truman was an artillery officer in World War I, but his campaign didn't highlight that in his tough election battle in 1948. "You didn't get Kennedy saying, 'I have served and I have shrapnel in me,'" says Fred Greenstein, a presidential scholar and professor emeritus at Princeton. "Kennedy was too classy a guy to say that." (A Kerry campaign commercial says Kerry still has shrapnel in his leg.) George Bush senior, running for president in 1988 and 1992, didn't discuss his World War II service in the Pacific. Nor did Eisenhower rely on his war experience. "He didn't have to say 'I know about war,'" says Greenstein. "Everybody knew he knew about war."

Truman, Kennedy, Bush, and Eisenhower stressed other issues. Truman thrashed the "do-nothing Congress." Kennedy deplored a "missile gap" and exuded optimism about America. Bush ran as Ronald Reagan's heir but "kinder and gentler." Eisenhower promised to go to Korea and to clean up the mess in Washington. Kerry, however, "has made his four months of military service a key part, a mantra, a touchstone," says Greenstein. Since 1904, when presidential candidates began active campaigning, Kerry "is probably distinctive in the extent to which he makes reference to it."

That's putting it mildly. Kerry's campaign is also distinctive in the modern political era in using his Vietnam record to shut down criticism. Vice President Dick Cheney zinged Kerry recently for advocating a "more sensitive war on terror." At a rally in Flint, Michigan, Kerry's running mate, John Edwards, accused Cheney of distorting Kerry's words. Then he added this: "He's talking about a man who still carries shrapnel in his body. He's talking about a man who spilled his blood for the United States of America." Democratic senator Tom Harkin went further, calling Cheney a "coward" for not having joined the military or served in Vietnam.

This tactic is not new. It's called "waving the bloody shirt" and was quite common in presidential campaigns in the post-Civil War years--but not since then. In those days, presidential nominees didn't campaign personally. But Republicans urged people to "vote the way you shot." Presidential expert Al Felzenberg cites another Republican slogan: "Every [dead] Union soldier was downed by a Democrat." In 1868, Ulysses S. Grant's Democratic foe, Horatio Seymour, was accused of southern sympathies. Even when Democrats nominated General Winfield Scott Hancock in 1880, Republicans charged he represented "a Solid South against the soldiers and sailors of the patriotic North."

The Kerry campaign now treats President Bush the way Republicans dealt with Democratic presidential nominee Grover Cleveland in 1884. Republicans pointed out Cleveland hadn't served in the Civil War. At a Kerry campaign press conference last week, Clark characterized the two candidates this way: "One man volunteered to serve his country. He volunteered to go to Vietnam. He volunteered a third time to command a Swift boat in one of the most dangerous activities in the war. The other man scrambled and used his family's influence to get out of hearing a shot fired in anger."

There's a problem in comparing the Kerry and Bush war records. Kerry needs to play up his in an effort to show he would be a tough commander in chief. Meanwhile, Bush's record as a National Guard fighter pilot is not particularly relevant. He has been commander in chief for more than three years, allowing voters to judge him on his actual performance rather than on military records more than three decades old.

The Kerry fixation on his Vietnam record turns out to be more risky than expected. His claims about his war experience have become a matter for scrutiny, though not by the Bush reelection campaign as far as we know. Instead, a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has charged Kerry with lying about his record in Vietnam or exaggerating it. The Kerry campaign can't dismiss the group as men who ducked Vietnam duty. The anti-Kerry veterans stayed in Vietnam for full 12-month tours, longer than Kerry did. Many were in the same unit as Kerry. Their criticism of Kerry is over specific incidents that require a specific response. Being forced to defend his war record wasn't part of Kerry's campaign plan.

Is Kerry's strategy working? We'll get an initial reading soon when polls measure whether the attacks by the Swift Boat Veterans, both on Kerry's war record and his antiwar protesting, have had an effect. The real test comes this fall when voters will be paying more attention and Kerry's Senate record on national security will be under discussion. Has Kerry's Vietnam episode inoculated him? Presidential historian Forrest McDonald doesn't think so. "He's grasping at straws," McDonald says. Maybe so.

 

Fred Barnes is executive editor of The Weekly Standard.


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: barnes; bloodyshirt; fredbarnes; vietnam; weeklystandard
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1 posted on 08/20/2004 8:59:58 PM PDT by RWR8189
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To: RWR8189

"I spit on veterans as a young man and I will spit on them as president," Kerry declared.


2 posted on 08/20/2004 9:03:04 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (The media monopoly is broken-America's Berlin Wall has been torn down!)
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To: RWR8189

Which side?


3 posted on 08/20/2004 9:03:35 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative (Do not remove this tag under penalty of law.)
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To: Jeff Chandler

John kerry will always remember this saying what is done in darkness comes out in the light of day
w2004
ciao


4 posted on 08/20/2004 9:08:49 PM PDT by italianquaker (CATHOLIC AND I VOTE)
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To: RWR8189

With real-deal hardcore combat types, you generally have to be REALLY patient to hear their stories. The poseurs are the ones who yap about it every five minutes.

I had a guy who works at the apartment complex spot my USMC decal on my car. He ambled over and started talking shop. The first thing he's on about is his 'time with Second Force Reconnaisance' and 'I was involved with' classified this and classified that, and 'oh, you weren't privy to that, were you?' I immediately decided that he was a bullshit artist and continued with what I was doing- making a show of ignoring him. I hate a******s like that.


5 posted on 08/20/2004 9:11:57 PM PDT by Riley (Need an experienced computer tech in the DC Metro area? I'm looking. Freepmail for details.)
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To: RWR8189
In an era of terrorist attacks, his votes to cut intelligence spending, indeed his overall dovishness, are liabilities. So the theme of nearly every speaker at the Democratic convention in July was that Kerry's Vietnam service, not his Senate record, reflects the kind of president he would be.

And I would humbly submit that the GOP is making a mistake by continuing to focus on Vietnam, rather than focusing on his Senate record.

6 posted on 08/20/2004 9:12:21 PM PDT by Amelia
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To: Amelia

When has the GOP focused on Vietnam?


7 posted on 08/20/2004 9:18:30 PM PDT by ScottFromSpokane (Re-elect President Bush: http://spokanegop.org/bush.html)
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To: Riley

I've got a (real) good friend, it was 2 years before I knew he was a Marine another 2 before he mentioned he was recon in Nam. Even to this day (and it's been 20+ years it's hard to get him to talk about it.

30 yrs later vet gets Purple Heart

Miscellaneous Announcement
Source: Mendota Review
Published: 3/4/01 Author: Carlin Larson

http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3ab4096c26fa.htm
Posted on 03/17/2001 17:03:40 PST by Valin
Over 30years ago thomas Mohs was asked if he wanted a Purple Heart. He was wounded in 1969 while serving in a reconnaissance unit during the Vietnam war. Mohs chose not to accept the award, saying others were more deserving.

Humility stayed with Mohs (52) and three decades later, he still shuns occasions where his efforts are praised. However his family is determined not to let is heroic efforts and those of other veterans go unrecognized.

Mohs grew up in south mpls and was the third child of a family of 13 children. After graduating from south high school, he joined the US Marines Corps and served with the 3rd Recon Marines in Vietnam. Althought he was wounded, he fulfilled his tour awyway.
(snip)


8 posted on 08/20/2004 9:23:12 PM PDT by Valin (Mind like a steel trap - rusty and illegal in 37 states.)
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To: ScottFromSpokane

Perhaps not the national party, but go read the latest posts and breaking news. You'll notice the big news lately has been the SwiftVets stuff?


9 posted on 08/20/2004 9:23:16 PM PDT by Amelia
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To: Riley

"With real-deal hardcore combat types, you generally have to be REALLY patient to hear their stories. The poseurs are the ones who yap about it every five minutes."

That has been my experience too. Had a good friend who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. It was like pulling teeth to get him to talk about it. Eventually I gave up.

Kerry is a gasbag and needs to be deflated. Thank you swiftvets for doing that for us.


10 posted on 08/20/2004 9:26:07 PM PDT by fizziwig
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To: Amelia

And I would humbly submit that the GOP is making a mistake by continuing to focus on Vietnam, rather than focusing on his Senate record.

1 The GOP isn't, The main attack is coming from the Swiftboat Vets and many of is conservatives and Vets, not the party
2 John Kerry is the one who's made his FOUR(1 2 3 4) months in Viet-Nam the center piece of his campaign.

No flame intended


11 posted on 08/20/2004 9:28:15 PM PDT by Valin (Mind like a steel trap - rusty and illegal in 37 states.)
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To: RWR8189

Hatriotism is the last refuge of the leftist.


12 posted on 08/20/2004 9:29:35 PM PDT by GulliverSwift (John Fitzgerald Kerry-- Dream on Ketchup Boy)
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To: Valin

Indeed. Contrast your friend with the current Democratic nominee. One can't go to the bathroom without mentioning his 'service', the other has to have any mention of it dragged out of him.

I know which one I'd trust behind me in bad guy country.


13 posted on 08/20/2004 9:29:36 PM PDT by Riley (Need an experienced computer tech in the DC Metro area? I'm looking. Freepmail for details.)
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To: RWR8189
The Swift Boat Vets have standing to challenge Kerry, that's the key. Nobody can question their own valor or military credentials. Kerry isn't inocculated against them one bit, that's why their claims are getting such traction. Kerry can't just blow them off as he would anyone else by saying "I served and you didn't so don't question me" - because they served as well or better than he did.

Kerry best mind his manners around them, they won't take his putdowns or smirks or usual degrading tactics that he uses against everyone else. And I don't think they really care if doing this hurts themselves personally - they want the truth out and will be dog-goned if anything Kerry says will prevent them from doing it. Real men, real heroes, I admire them.

I'm sure the Carvilles and other toads down at the DNC are dumbfounded by this, that their story is getting such wide play. It's because they are the ideal, in fact the only, messengers who can get past Kerry's defensive shield. I notice that this is precisely when we needed to get the big guns out there, too - after the Democrats' convention, when the campaign really is beginning. If this continues, it could be a sweet fall campaign.

Oh, after a past campaign, Kerry confided to an opponent that there was one way to get him, to pierce his defensive armor, but that nobody had figured it out. He wouldn't say what that was because he feared someone finding it out. I think someone has.

14 posted on 08/20/2004 9:31:38 PM PDT by KellyAdmirer
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To: Amelia

Yeah. In other words, not the GOP, but Freepers, talk show hosts, bloggers, etc.

I agree it would be a mistake for the GOP to focus on Vietnam. That's why I'm glad they're not doing it.


15 posted on 08/20/2004 9:32:36 PM PDT by ScottFromSpokane (Re-elect President Bush: http://spokanegop.org/bush.html)
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To: Riley

John Kerry has spent more time heaping praise upon himself about his service in Vietnam than he did serving in Vietnam


16 posted on 08/20/2004 9:33:00 PM PDT by MJY1288 (John Kerry Says he Would Conduct a More Thoughtful and Sensitive War on Terror)
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To: GulliverSwift

Hatriotism is the last refuge of the leftist.

That is a marvelous word, "Hatriotism". Defines the left rather precisely. Ought to be in Webster's.

thanks.

Blessings, Bobo


17 posted on 08/20/2004 9:38:35 PM PDT by bobo1
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To: Amelia
I originally thought as you did, but not now.

These Swiftvets are believeable, and they are having a devastating effect on Kerry. He's already had 4 or 5 different versions of his "Cambodia" story.

The GOP isn't saying a word. They don't have to.

Look how Kerry's camp is scrambling. They don't know what to say about these guys.

18 posted on 08/20/2004 9:39:56 PM PDT by sinkspur ("Where can I get a four-fin biretta"?--Cardinal Fanfani)
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To: Valin
I've got a (real) good friend, it was 2 years before I knew he was a Marine another 2 before he mentioned he was recon in Nam.

That fits with my observation: Generally speaking, those who say the least, did the most, and vice versa.

19 posted on 08/20/2004 9:40:28 PM PDT by Bob
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To: Amelia

The Swift Boat Vets, not the GOP, are focused on Vietnam.
Nevertheless, this is important because what Kerry did in Vietnam and immediately after reveals his character. Character defines leadership. Leadership is critical in the war on terror.


20 posted on 08/20/2004 9:43:53 PM PDT by DianeDePoitiers
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