If they begin to abandon him, all hope is lost regardless how much spin Terry "Baghdad Bob" McAwful tries to apply. They haven't left him yet, but a few of them appear to be on the verge.
here is the paragraph from Broders article.....the whole piece is worth a look.
"Having lived with that legacy since the start of his political career, Kerry may be judged naive to have thought that Vietnam would be a golden credential for the presidency -- and not an inevitable source of controversy. When he chose to make his Navy combat in Vietnam the principal metaphor for his dedication to public service and the proof of his toughness in a time of terrorism, he might have guessed that the skeptics would not remain silent. In a 2002 conversation, Kerry told me he thought it would be doubly advantageous that "I fought in Vietnam and I also fought against the Vietnam War," apparently not recognizing that some would see far too much political calculation in such a bifurcated record."
http://www.postwritersgroup.com/archives/brod0823.htm