Kerry to sign form 180?
Captain Ed
captainsquartersblog.com
....No, this is a smart move by Kerry, one of the few he's made. He will sign off on the release three years ahead of the start of the primary season, plenty of time for whatever bad news in the file to be assimilated and then discounted by the true believers. The problem with releasing them a year ago was the proximity of a release to the primary vote, and then after that to the general election. It wouldn't have been an issue at all, of course, if Terry McAuliffe hadn't made the mistake of accusing George Bush of desertion during his service and continuing to use that smear for months afterward. That made a complete release by Kerry impossible.
My best analysis, furthered by sources which I cannot name, is that Kerry's file contains a less-than-honorable discharge from the 1971-72 period that his later 1978 discharge overrode. With three years between a revelation such as that and any voting, Kerry could eventually sell voters on the idea that the times in which that discharge occurred reflected the deep divisions in America, etc etc. If he runs to Hillary Clinton's left, which appears inevitable unless he changes his name to Joe Lieberman, that could convince the International ANSWER/MoveOn crowd of his viability -- but they'll be the only ones. They might well get him either to the top of the ticket, but if he couldn't beat Bush, there's no way in Hell he could beat any other Republican candidate in 2008. |
