Vietnam duality challenges KerryPage 5 of 5 -- At the same time, anti-Kerry veterans like O'Neill were waiting in the wings. As the Democrat was sewing up the nomination in February and March, McKean, campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill, and other advisers heard reports that veterans were organizing over the Internet and smearing Kerry as "Hanoi John" in mass e-mail messages. By midspring, some veterans began attacking Kerry over his antiwar activities, particularly his decision to throw away his combat ribbons at one 1971 protest.
Several Republicans picked up on these attacks, and the Kerry campaign responded swiftly, having the senator sit for interviews with the major television networks on a single day. By comparison, Kerry chose last month to say nothing about the swift boat group's attacks for two weeks -- in part because he felt that discredited veterans, not political equals, were making the attacks and they were not worthy of his response. Those springtime attacks largely ceased once news of the Iraqi prisoner-abuse scandal broke. "They did not want to discuss any atrocities that Don Rumsfeld might face questions about in Iraq," McKean said, although the swift boat group continued to organize in private. Kerry's 1971 comment about "atrocities" particularly dogged him in Internet chat rooms, and the Democrat tried to repair some of the damage by saying on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he regretted some of his harsh language as an activist. Massachusetts voters never gave him serious trouble for that remark, but Kerry advisers say that they knew it might have a far worse reception with a national audience. They also wanted to clear a potential land mine before the Democratic National Convention, which they wanted to suffuse with stories and images of Kerry's Vietnam service. "There was no question that a lot of veterans still harbored ill will over John's speech about 'atrocities,' and they were determined to get back at him," said Jim Wasser, a former crewmate of Kerry's who has campaigned alongside him. "And it would be easy for Republicans in high places to manipulate them." Advisers say that making Vietnam a centerpiece of the convention was a natural decision, once they decided to devote the event to introducing Kerry to the nation in positive terms, instead of going on the attack against Bush. But the war was also intended to blunt the sort of attacks on Kerry's patriotism that the campaign expected from the swift boat group. "One of the reasons our convention stressed the themes of strength and national security was we knew this would be an attack," senior adviser Joe Lockhart said of Republican criticism of Kerry's leadership ability. "[The Bush campaign] had to resort to character assassination, and frankly, it's the Bush family political playbook." For Kerry, the positive glow of Vietnam was never brighter this year than when he stepped on the stage at the Democratic National Convention July 29 to accept the party's nomination for the presidency. There he joined his swift boat crewmates assembled on the dais, saluted the FleetCenter hall, and declared, "I'm John Kerry, and I'm reporting for duty." Within days, the first of two television commercials by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth began airing. Kerry's response, two weeks later, linked the group to Republicans, calling it a "front" for Bush doing his "dirty work." But then he became silent again, with advisers counting on the attacks to fall apart -- only to see some Republicans seize on his antiwar activities. Leading Democrats, such as the chairman of Ohio's Democratic Party, Dennis White, were bewildered that Kerry would be on the defensive when Bush chose to avoid service in Vietnam by joining the National Guard, and urged a new offensive. And since Thursday, Kerry has tested one out, telling crowds in Ohio that he would not "have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they had a chance," a direct shot at Cheney's five draft deferments. Whether this counterassault will put Vietnam squarely back in the win column for the Kerry campaign will become clear in the next eight weeks. Democrats, including advisers to Kerry, remain wary and uncertain, just as the candidate once was about telling his Vietnam story. "Kerry decided to make Vietnam the centerpiece of his campaign for one clear reason: Imagine him without his military record -- he would just be another liberal from Taxachusetts," Brinkley said. "With Vietnam, he could challenge Republicans on their strongest position -- standing with the military and with the American flag. Now you're seeing the negative effects of that."
Patrick Healy can be reached at phealy@globe.com. © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
|
