Posted on 08/28/2004 7:20:10 PM PDT by plushaye
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Saturday described John Kerry's tour of duty in Vietnam as more heroic than his own service in the Air National Guard, saying his Democratic rival had been "in harm's way."
But the president told NBC's "Today" show that both sides should drop the debate over their wartime service, saying, "I think that we ought to move beyond the past. ... The real question is who best to lead us forward."
Asked if he believed that he and Kerry "served on the same level of heroism," Bush replied, "No, I don't. I think him going to Vietnam was more heroic than my flying fighter jets. He was in harm's way and I wasn't."
Excerpts of the interview, conducted on Saturday for broadcast on Monday, were released by NBC.
The president continued to defend his own service in the Air National Guard, saying, "On the other hand, I served my country. Had my unit been called up, I would have gone."
Kerry's war record in Vietnam has dominated the 2004 presidential campaign in recent weeks, after advertisements by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth accused him of lying about the events that led to his decoration for bravery.
The White House on Thursday said it would file a lawsuit to try to force the Federal Election Commission to crack down on the ads. Bush says he does not believe Kerry lied about his record, but he has refused to condemn the ads directly.
Kerry accuses the Bush campaign of colluding with the Swift Boat Veterans on the ads, a charge the White House has denied. But its case was hurt this past week when a top lawyer for the Bush campaign, Benjamin Ginsberg, resigned after disclosing he was providing legal advice to the veteran's group.
After Ginsburg's resignation, 50 percent of Americans said they believed the Bush campaign was behind the Swift Boat Veterans ads, according to a survey by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center.
Pollster Adam Clymer said Ginsburg's resignation heightened the belief that the Bush campaign had supported the ads, but the controversy could fade from public view when the Republican National Convention begins next week.
Federal election rules bar organizations that take unrestricted donations from coordinating their activities with campaigns or political parties.
The issue has also caused tension with Republican Sen. John McCain, another Vietnam veteran and influential lawmaker who has urged Bush to condemn the ads and get them halted.
McCain is backing Bush for the White House, but the Arizona senator has defended his friend Kerry and threatened to raise the issue with Bush when they campaign in Iowa next week.
What did Weasley say?
Note that Reuters used the last third of the article trying to blame Bush for the whole mess that Kerry is in......but said little about the inconsistencies & lies that Kerry has been caught in......
That was a very classy thing for President Bush to say. It's little things like that that speak volumes about a man's character. I can't imagine Clinton, Gore, or Kerry being so charitable and self-effacing.
And they won't stop; if the polls are right with Bush on the rise -- and if Bush gets any kind of convention bounce -- we better all don our HAZMAT suits because Kerry and the Dems will go nulcear.
The President is acting like a gentleman. I think it will play well with the undecided voters.
I never cared for Bush41, but I have to admit that both Bushes are pure class. Gentlemen through and through.
I guess Bush never heard the phrase "nice guys finish last".
its time for him to be quiet about this, or when asked, say that Dem 527s are saying he is poisoning pregnant women, and Kerry is saying nothing about it.
I see it more as killing your enemy with kindness.
You're wasting your time with that one.
Sen. Kerry ...... here is some rope... just how much of it do you want?
It is brilliant. Kerry says he went to Viet Nam and Bush says he honors that service. President Bush then says Kerrys was more heroic and what is left for Kerry to do? He can't argue (well, knowing Kerry, I guess he can). The point being is when someone pushes a argument, and it has little value except to the person pushing it, then concede it, go on with your business and let them think they have won something. They stand there thinking "I won," and the rest of the world doesn't notice, or care.
Kerry made a mistake! There's nothing heroic in that. However, he did the right thing in taking out after that VC with the RPG. Lots and lots of guys were awarded posthumous Silver Stars for similar acts.
Basically, it was pretty stupid for an officer to go chasing around a VC by himself in an ambush situation, but it was colorful and stimulated otherwise timid Navy recruits to meet the challenge of real combat.
I've always wondered if he got into wearing his sword. That hasn't been mentioned in any of this.
what if his records have been "sanitized"? that silver star citation that was altered, reissued, and allegedly signed by lehman didn't get there by accident. if kerry has been planning on running for president for 40 years, he has probably been cleaning up his military jacket behind the scenes for years.
I know Peggy Noonan is working for his campaign now, and Karen Hughes is back-- lots of good advice there. Plus his wife, of course, but sometimes a wife can be too much her husband's partisan and too close to him to be able to see clearly enough to give good advice.
At any rate, I think his response here was SPOT ON. Absolutely gracious and self-effacing -- you couldn't draw a more perfect contrast with Kerry's bragging and self-promotion. Perfect!
All he has done so far is to take the high road.
You have to remember, even the slightest connection to the Swifties will be blown out of proportion.
And it WILL hurt Bush if there is even a tiny bit of evidence of that.
The public would be taken in by the claims.
Luckily, so far, the evidence is SO slim that even the media can't focus on it much.
he's crazy like a fox, my friend.
Absolutely classic. Bush is a master at this......he WILL win!
Not surprising from a rag that would put this line of drivel in the article.
The president continued to defend his own service in the Air National Guard
As if being in the ANG was something needing defending.
Kerry's Democratic primary rival Wesley Clark, his voice rising to a yell, suggested President Bush is behind the criticisms being aired by veterans who say Kerry lied to get medals and then disgraced the country with his anti-war activism after returning home.
"I think that it's outrageous that the president of the United States can question the medals and the service and the valor of American veterans who have served," said Clark, a retired four-star Army general. "It's offensive against every veteran in this country."
Relying heavily on money and help from Republicans, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have made the claims, many of which have been disputed by Navy documents and other veterans.
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