Fox News' Special Report reports on a new Swift Veterans for Truth ad which "will question Kerry's decision to throw away his military ribbons in a 1971 protest. Kerry's authorized biography, Tour of Duty, says he kept his own combat medals but threw away his ribbons and medals belonging to two other veterans. . . . The new spot will ask how voters can trust a candidate who, 'renounced his country's symbols.' It will run starting tomorrow in Florida, which is yet to see any paid swift boat TV spots." The spots are "running in Tampa, Jacksonville, Fort Myers, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Gainesville and Panama City, hitting nearly half the state's households." The cities were "chosen for the concentration of military families or conservative Democrats. The ad will also run for two consecutive days in Nashville, Tennessee starting Wednesday." The New York Post reports in an exclusive story by Deborah Orin that the ad is "timed to zing Kerry just before he speaks to vets tomorrow at the American Legion convention."
McCain Calls Kerry's Post-Vietnam Activities Legitimate Target For Criticism.
In an interview with CBS television this morning, Sen. John McCain continued to insist that TV ads aimed at Sen. John Kerry by the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth "are dishonest and dishonorable," but he added that what Kerry did after the war is a legitimate topic for political discussion. McCain said of Kerry's anti-war efforts, "People didn't like that."
McCain Says He Doesn't Know If Charged Contained In Ads Are False.
On ABC World News Tonight, McCain called the ads "dishonorable and dishonest. I don't know they're false or not. I know that things happen in war. That's why we call it the fog of war. That everybody has a different version of."
McCain Says Kerry Brought Some Of Vietnam Controversy On Himself.
In the same interview, McCain was asked whether Kerry "brought some of this on himself." McCain replied, "Sure. . . . Because he made the Vietnam War his centerpiece of his convention and his campaign."
Former President Bush Fans Swift Veterans' Charges.
The New York Times reports on comments by former President George Bush on CNN. The elder Bush "fanned doubts yesterday about Senator John Kerry's service in Vietnam, sustaining a decades-old debate that has dominated the presidential campaign in the last few weeks." He "did not directly challenge Mr. Kerry's record but rather, with the subtlety of a seasoned pro, parried questions in a way to gently bat the controversy aloft." Pressed about "advertisements by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Mr. Bush called 'rather compelling' the claims of some veterans who have attacked Mr. Kerry's service, and he noted that others had accused these veterans of lying." Bush said, "I have great confidence in Bob Dole. I don't think he'd be out there just smearing."
