I see your point. Still, the medal-tossing episode comes across as a negative in a lot of quarters but maybe not in any that would have considered voted for Kerry in the first place. I don't think it plays well w/ WWII vets but, sadly, they are a shrinking sector of the electorate.
Actually, it's good that the WWII vets are a smaller part of the population and the Viet Nam vets are a larger part of the population (compared to them).
You will notice that every attempt to denounce our troops in the field has been trounced thoroughly. That wasn't the case during the Nam, and the WWII vets are responsible for that sad state of affairs.
There's nothing like getting betrayed to focus your attention on the important stuff.