Kerry Backer Tries in Vain to Get Protest to Bush
Wed Aug 25, 2004 04:13 PM ET
By Jeremy Pelofsky
CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - Former Sen. Max Cleland on Wednesday rolled up to President Bush's ranch in his wheelchair to deliver a public protest against what he called "disgraceful" attacks against fellow Vietnam veteran John Kerry's Vietnam war service.
"The question is where is George Bush's honor. The question is where is his shame," Cleland said after Bush's guards refused to accept his letter calling on the president to "recognize this blatant attempt at character assassination, and publicly condemn it."
The Bush campaign dispatched its own supporters, including a war veteran, to meet Cleland and supporters of the Democratic nominee at a security checkpoint just down the road from the entrance to Bush's secluded ranch.
But Cleland refused to give the letter, signed by nine senators who served in the military, to Jerry Patterson, a former Marine who now serves as Texas State Land Commissioner.
Patterson had his own letter for Kerry, signed by him and other war veterans, that criticized Kerry's anti-war comments after he returned from Vietnam.
Cleland rolled his wheelchair back and forth across the road and around barricades trying to give the letter to a Secret Service agent, state trooper or a Bush aide, all of whom evaded him.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan described Cleland's appearance at Crawford as a "political stunt."
The dispute over Kerry's service has dominated the neck-and-neck race for the election in recent days as both candidates try to portray themselves as the best man to lead the United States in its war against terrorism.
Bush has called for the ads by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth to be stopped along with others run by independent groups. But he stopped short of condemning the group or its accusations.
Worried about falling support among veterans, Kerry's campaign dispatched Cleland to Texas where he said Bush "owes it to every soldier and veteran in the nation to stop condoning their smears through his silence."
Cleland lost his own 2002 bid in Georgia for re-election to the U.S. Senate after a bitter campaign in which Republicans questioned his patriotism. Cleland lost both his legs and one arm while serving in Vietnam. (Additional reporting by Adam Entous.)
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