Kerry turns to Vietnam imagery
Boatmate joins him in Florida
MIAMI -- It was a rare confluence of Vietnam and the war on terrorism that faced John F. Kerry yesterday, as memories of his Navy service and the specter of Osama bin Laden both emerged in sharp definition just four days before the presidential election.
Kerry talked far more vividly about Vietnam yesterday morning than he has in weeks, since his campaign decided to shift from celebrating his warrior days to critiquing President Bush's wartime policy on both Iraq and Al Qaeda. On the surface the reason was simple, aides said: His old crewmate Del Sandusky was in the audience in Orlando. But Kerry's remarks were striking given how much Vietnam had become a lightning rod for his campaign, what with the attacks this summer and fall by the Republican-funded Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and
"Even when I said we're going into that ambush, and we're turning right, and we're going straight ahead right into it, [Sandusky would] just turn that boat and go straight into it," Kerry said in Orlando -- evoking the kind of derring-do that Swift Boat Veterans for Truth alleged didn't happen.
"This is a courageous patriot in America -- a man of truth, may I add," the Democratic nominee added, in a clear reference to his critics.
Kerry went on to criticize Bush's record in Iraq in langauge that also evoked Vietnam, saying, "Having been one of those troops, and looking at what they're doing today, I know they need leadership as courageous and clear and determined as they are."
He also used new language to describe the loss of life in war that could have been right out of the Vietnam era -- "the loss of over 1,100 of our treasures, our young brave men and women in uniform" -- and noted that he had defended America "as a young man, and I will defend it as president."
A Kerry spokesman, David Wade, said the Democrat's remarks aimed at more than merely reaching out to the sizable veterans' population in Florida.
"With the campaign winding down I think there's a sense of vindication for John Kerry, that he has defeated the liars and friends of George Bush who made baseless attacks on his Vietnam record," Wade said. "These people have ultimately been discredited. Vietnam is a window onto John Kerry's character, and while that was under attack for some time, John Kerry fought back and defeated those who questioned it."
Six hours later came the broadcast of the bin Laden videotape. Aides to Kerry said he did not feel it was appropriate, in response, to link his Vietnam tour of duty to the fight against Al Qaeda. Rather, Kerry believed that voters would respond best to a statement of national unity "at this moment in time, in a moment of another war," said a campaign adviser.
Patrick Healy can be reached at phealy@globe.com. 