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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=548806
McCain defends Kerry over army record
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
07 August 2004
The Republican icon John McCain yesterday came to the defence of his friend and fellow Vietnam hero
John Kerry, denouncing new television adverts by pro-George Bush veterans accusing the Democratic
presidential challenger of lying about his war record 35 years ago.
The bitter row over the adverts is the latest twist in an extraordinarily intense election, which has seen
both the President and Mr Kerry campaigning in early August with a ferocity usually not seen until the last
fortnight or so before the November vote.
The adverts are not directly the work of the White House, but of a so-called "527" group, named after a
provision of the tax code which allows them to run highly partisan election ads, so long as they do not
explicitly call for the defeat of one or other candidate.
This group is called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a reference to the type of small vessel patrolling the
Mekong Delta during the war, one of which was commanded by then US Navy Lieutenant John Kerry.
During his 1966-69 service, the Massachusetts senator won a silver and a bronze star for valour, as well
as three purple hearts (awarded for injury sustained in battle).
"I know John Kerry is lying about his first purple heart," says one veteran, who claims to have been
aboard a Swift boat which operated close to the one on which Mr Kerry served. Another veteran baldly
declares that "John Kerry lied to get his bronze star".
The ads have been greeted with outrage - both by the Kerry campaign and the Swift boat veterans who
fought alongside him, and who have been a constant prop to the candidate on the campaign trail - most
recently serving as a warm-up act before Mr Kerry's keynote speech accepting the Democratic
nomination at the party's convention in Boston last week.
The Democratic National Committee called the ads "a pack of lies" yesterday, and launched its own
offensive to keep the ads off the screen in the three battleground states of Wisconsin, Ohio and West
Virginia, where they are being aired. But Mr Kerry's most effective weapon may be his Republican
colleague from Arizona, who has never forgiven the Bush campaign for its alleged smears of his record
during the fierce primary campaign of 2000, above all in the pivotal primary of South Carolina.
Calling the advert "dishonest", Senator McCain declared that the Bush campaign should "specifically
condemn" it. The White House conspicuously failed to do so, calling instead for an end to all "527"
campaign spending. The bulk of this has been by Democrat-aligned groups, which have run adverts
portraying Mr Bush as a creature of privilege and a blundering commander-in-chief in Iraq.
The dispute is another sign of how bareknuckle and ruthless this campaign threatens to become, with
every indication that the contest could be as finely poised as that of 2000. A slew of bad news this week
moreover has made the Bush/Cheney team especially edgy.
New employment figures, showing the economy created an anaemic 32,000 jobs in July, have undermined
the administration's claim that a solid, job-producing recovery is under way. The Kerry campaign instantly
seized upon them yesterday as proof that Mr Bush's economic strategy was a failure.
Separately, the Bush camp was shaken by new polls showing that the President's Democratic challenger
leading by 7 per cent in Florida and New Hampshire, swing states narrowly carried by Mr Bush four years
ago. So close is the race that Mr Bush has been forced to all but abandon his August holiday, as well as
any hope he might be able to conduct the "Rose Garden" strategy of incumbents past, who preferred to
portray themselves as "presidential", handling great affairs of state at the White House, rather than
stooping to the campaign trail. But this incumbent no longer has that luxury.
McCain defends Kerry over army record
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
07 August 2004
The Republican icon John McCain yesterday came to the defence of his friend and fellow Vietnam hero
John Kerry, denouncing new television adverts by pro-George Bush veterans accusing the Democratic
presidential challenger of lying about his war record 35 years ago.
The bitter row over the adverts is the latest twist in an extraordinarily intense election, which has seen
both the President and Mr Kerry campaigning in early August with a ferocity usually not seen until the last
fortnight or so before the November vote.
The adverts are not directly the work of the White House, but of a so-called "527" group, named after a
provision of the tax code which allows them to run highly partisan election ads, so long as they do not
explicitly call for the defeat of one or other candidate.
This group is called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a reference to the type of small vessel patrolling the
Mekong Delta during the war, one of which was commanded by then US Navy Lieutenant John Kerry.
During his 1966-69 service, the Massachusetts senator won a silver and a bronze star for valour, as well
as three purple hearts (awarded for injury sustained in battle).
"I know John Kerry is lying about his first purple heart," says one veteran, who claims to have been
aboard a Swift boat which operated close to the one on which Mr Kerry served. Another veteran baldly
declares that "John Kerry lied to get his bronze star".
The ads have been greeted with outrage - both by the Kerry campaign and the Swift boat veterans who
fought alongside him, and who have been a constant prop to the candidate on the campaign trail - most
recently serving as a warm-up act before Mr Kerry's keynote speech accepting the Democratic
nomination at the party's convention in Boston last week.
The Democratic National Committee called the ads "a pack of lies" yesterday, and launched its own
offensive to keep the ads off the screen in the three battleground states of Wisconsin, Ohio and West
Virginia, where they are being aired. But Mr Kerry's most effective weapon may be his Republican
colleague from Arizona, who has never forgiven the Bush campaign for its alleged smears of his record
during the fierce primary campaign of 2000, above all in the pivotal primary of South Carolina.
Calling the advert "dishonest", Senator McCain declared that the Bush campaign should "specifically
condemn" it. The White House conspicuously failed to do so, calling instead for an end to all "527"
campaign spending. The bulk of this has been by Democrat-aligned groups, which have run adverts
portraying Mr Bush as a creature of privilege and a blundering commander-in-chief in Iraq.
The dispute is another sign of how bareknuckle and ruthless this campaign threatens to become, with
every indication that the contest could be as finely poised as that of 2000. A slew of bad news this week
moreover has made the Bush/Cheney team especially edgy.
New employment figures, showing the economy created an anaemic 32,000 jobs in July, have undermined
the administration's claim that a solid, job-producing recovery is under way. The Kerry campaign instantly
seized upon them yesterday as proof that Mr Bush's economic strategy was a failure.
Separately, the Bush camp was shaken by new polls showing that the President's Democratic challenger
leading by 7 per cent in Florida and New Hampshire, swing states narrowly carried by Mr Bush four years
ago. So close is the race that Mr Bush has been forced to all but abandon his August holiday, as well as
any hope he might be able to conduct the "Rose Garden" strategy of incumbents past, who preferred to
portray themselves as "presidential", handling great affairs of state at the White House, rather than
stooping to the campaign trail. But this incumbent no longer has that luxury.
