"I understand the 'draft' remarks were published in a govt. publication."
Could be. But you might be mixing it up with his other lie--I mean, gaffe:
"Quote: ''For those of us who are fortunate to share an Irish ancestry, we take great pride in the contributions that Irish-Americans …" (Congressional Record, March 18, 1986).
Charge: Kerry was accused of using such comments to make his Irish-American constituents think he is one of them when, in fact, he isn't. The Republican National Committee included the 1986 statement in a compendium of Kerry quotes titled Will He Say Anything To Get Elected?
Context: Kerry never delivered the statement orally. He claimed that his staff wrote it and, without showing it to him, submitted it to the Congressional Record to commemorate St. Patrick's Day."
http://slate.msn.com/id/2089125/ But in effect it is the same excuse. His darn staff!
I don't think there's any question that he pretended to be Irish in order to get votes. It would be interesting to see how many Irish votes he will lose now the truth is out. I think the Irish are a lot like Jews in their voting preference for their ethnic comrades.
Context: Kerry never delivered the statement orally. He claimed that his staff wrote it and, without showing it to him, submitted it to the Congressional Record to commemorate St. Patrick's Day. I wonder if any of his other acts as a Senator (like some of his votes) will turn out to have been done by his staff without his knowledge. Maybe that is why he didn't know which way he voted when he tried to answer that Castro question in Florida. Way to take responsibility, Senator Kerry! Maybe when he was talking about those "lying, crooked" people, he was complaining about his staff? Or maybe his staff talked to some foreign leaders who assured them that Senator Kerry was in fact Irish. Could have happened to anybody!