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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (59488)	8/11/2004 10:08:27 AM
From: gamesmistress	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793843

is it the be all and end all of the election? It could be a tipping point for undecided voters. The unveiling of GWB's OUI arrest just before the 2000 election certainly swayed some against him. All those issues you mention are very important, but the significance of the SwiftVet controversy vis-a-vis Iraq, or health care, or education is that it frames Kerry's character and his answers. If the centerpiece of his campaign is a fraud, how (or why) should we trust any of his answers on any issue? That is how undecided voters may react. Kerry partisans, of course, will say that the SwiftVets are liars, etc. So far, though, there doesn't seem to be to have been much coverage of this, except on the Web and some talk shows. Can't really tell what the impact will be.

To: Lane3 who wrote (59488)	8/11/2004 10:55:05 AM
From: Rambi	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 793843

Part of the problem is that Kerry has used his service to deflect and avoid talking about the things that do matter while offering his Purple Heart status as his top qualification for the office-- so much so that it got to be a joke. If you asked about his voting record or what his plans are for Iraq, you'd get, "I have a plan and it's good because have I mentioned I was in Vietnam?" He injected it into every issue, often using it to avoid having any practical plans (at least that I could see). I also think there is certainly an element of schadenfreude in watching this unfold. We are, after all, only human, and he is so oppressively pompous. I don't care at all whether Bush or Kerry served 35 years ago; it is totally irrelevant to their ability to be president. But Kerry did present it as a defining element of himself, and how he is using it NOW says something about him. Do you remember the scene in Chevy Chase's movie CHristmas Vacation, where they all sit down at the table and there is the beautiful, perfect, juicylooking turkey sitting there? Chevy sticks a fork in it and it deflates like a pricked balloon until it's nothing but bones and desiccated skin? That's what's happening to Kerry's Vietnam story right now. I do wish we could stop picking at it, and check out the rest of the menu, but that turkey sure was advertised as the Chef's Recommendation. (Any implication that Kerry is a turkey was purely unintentional.)