Desperate and it shows

Boston Herald ^ | 08/27/04 | Editorial

[Pikamax]

Desperate and it shows By Boston Herald editorial staff Friday, August 27, 2004

Is the Kerry campaign going to start tearing down Bush/Cheney posters around the country and replacing them with their own? It's tempting to label the Kerry campaign's stunt of sending former Sen. and triple amputee Max Cleland to Crawford, Texas, to hand-deliver a letter to the president as cute, if petty, politics. But even that is giving them too much credit.

Forgive us for thinking that such tactics are usually preserved for, say, city council races.

But Kerry strategists, apparently smarting from criticism they reacted too slowly to the Swift Boat veterans controversy, are now overreacting, and making a true Vietnam hero look silly in the process.

Of course Cleland knew he wasn't going to be able to wheel right up to the ranch and hand-deliver his letter to the president, but that wasn't the point. The point was the TV cameras which swarmed the scene and gave Cleland and Kerry their 60 seconds on the nightly news.

The schlocky stunt looked as desperate as it surely was, and actually underscored Kerry's Purple Heart dilemma. Cleland himself didn't even earn a Purple Heart in Vietnam because his wounds weren't sustained by enemy fire.

The longer Vietnam dominates the campaign, the harder it will be for Kerry to get traction on issues that could sway voters to his side. This is a different dynamic for Kerry, whose service and anti-war record have always been a political plus. But this is the big leagues, and Kerry had better come up with something to change the subject. A phony photo op ain't going to do it.

[Puppage]

But Kerry strategists, apparently smarting from criticism they reacted too slowly to the Swift Boat veterans controversy, are now overreacting, and making a true Vietnam hero look silly in the process.

Yeah, all my true heros lie about their Purple Hearts & where they were on Christmas.

[MamaLucci]

Forgive us for thinking that such tactics are usually preserved for, say, city council races.

Thwap!

[epluribus_2]

Cleland himself didn't even earn a Purple Heart in Vietnam because his wounds weren't sustained by enemy fire.

OMG

This is Gore-esque for doltedness. Kerry(Kohn) - No bandit fire. Self originated (though unintentional = inept) wounds. Three strikes and get out of war free card. Now wheels out good man with bad wartime but not purple hearted injuries. Everyone stops and imagines whether JFing might have been able to stay a bit longer than 4 & 1/2 months or maybe should just not have brought it up at the convention. Another thought too - how did that Reporting for Duty go down at the Clinton household?

[kingattax]

Cleland thinks he should have stayed in the US Senate forever simply based on the fact that he was drunk in Vietnam and dropped a grenade that blew his limbs off. The people of Georgia rejected the Hanoi-Jane supported Senator for moving to the left of Marx. Being a flack for a traitor is not a way to earn respect Max, You look like a fool.

[Malesherbes]

Max Cleland lost three limbs when he picked up a live grenade behind the lines. This was not a heroic action. It was a terrible accident. That in no way dimishes the fact that he lost them while on active service in Viet Nam. Yet he seems to have concluded that, in consequence, the voters of Georgia owed him public office, and he became a very bitter man when - based on his Senate voting record in lock-step with Daschle - Georgians voted him out.

[Floyd]

I had to follow the link to the Boston Herald just to make sure this was actually an editorial! My gosh, the Herald is telling sKerry to straighten up & fast! LOL!

[BobS]

By Kerry standards, Cleland should get a Purple Heart because his feelings were hurt.

[FredZarguna]

The longer Vietnam dominates the campaign, the harder it will be for Kerry to get traction on issues that could sway voters to his side.

Ridiculous. It was Kerry's strategy to focus on Vietnam all along. He had his denizens prep the LZ by hilighting Bush's service earlier in the year. He doesn't have any issues that connect with voters west of the Hudson river and east of the Sierras, and he knows it.

This is a different dynamic for Kerry, whose service and anti-war record have always been a political plus.

More crap. His service is a non-starter in Massachusettes. His anti-war record is a plus there. He understands that MA is a negative image of the rest of the country, so has tried to invert his image outside his home base. The problem is, we aren't as dim in fly-over country as the people in Cambridge think we are.

But this is the big leagues, and Kerry had better come up with something to change the subject. A phony photo op ain't going to do it.

We would love for Kerry to open some new discussions.

Let's have him talk about the Vietnam Human Rights act.
Let's have him talk about his voting record in the Senate.
Let's have him talk about the oversight failure he was accused of by the 9/11 commission.
Let's have him talk about his 'consistency' in voting on the Iraq war.
Let's have him talk about the fact that a man in the Senate for almost 20 years has never sponsored a single major piece of successful legislation.
Let's have him talk about his attendance record in committees.

But we don't need to change the subject in order to do that, because unlike liberals, conservatives are able to converse on multiple subjects at the same time. And unlike liberals, we aren't going to be distracted by new! improved! slogans, or phony PR gimmicks, however professionally put together they may be.

Senator Kerry's supporters in the MA press say they want to talk about something besides Vietnam, and we say, "bring it on." Soon enough, he'll be begging us to stop talking about those other things, too.

[Grim]

The longer Vietnam dominates the campaign, the harder it will be for Kerry to get traction

The longer Iraq dominates the campaign, the harder it will be for Kerry to get traction

The longer Kerry's actions after his return from 'Nam dominates the campaign, the harder it will be for Kerry to get traction

The longer Kerry's senate record over the last 30 years dominates the campaign, the harder it will be for Kerry to get traction

I think I see a pattern here.

[trebb]

Max Cleland lost three limbs when he picked up a live grenade behind the lines.

Is this true? I heard he was dropped of at a safe haven by a chopper and decided not to return with it - he wanted a few beers - and ended up dropping his own grenade and picked it up . . .I never investigated, but I thought that was the official story...

[N. Theknow]

Forgive us for thinking that such tactics are usually preserved for, say, city council races.

More like 8th grade student council races.

[The Old Hoosier]

You sort of have it right, but here's the thing--Cleland truly deserved a beer after what he'd just done. It was someone else's grenade, but he assumed for years it had been his own until the guy came forward.

Max Cleland is a real hero. He had just volunteered to relieve some Marines who were in some real heavy sh#t. He exposed himself to a rocket attack in order to get to and tend to some wounded in that battle. He won a Silver Star for the incident--one that is by all accounts well-deserved.

[N. Theknow]

I always heave a sigh of disgust when I hear the media say, "Former senator Max Cleland from Georgia, who lost three limbs in Vietnam."

They never how.

[farsighted]

Agreed. Max did earn his medals. Interesting to contrast the way he talks about his medals with Kerry. Max says he didn't deserve them, they were gifts from the guys that recommended him. Very humble, unlike G*d's gift to the human race ... John F'ing Kerry.

[The Old Hoosier]

I believe Cleland was NOT awarded a Purple Heart for his injuries because he did not receive them in combat.

At least, he writes in his his book that he "did not deserve" a PH.

[freddiedavis]

bump TO SUPPORT THE NEW SWIFT VETS AD AND GEORGE BUSH... http://swift2.he.net/~swift2/gardner2.mpg

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

I have nothing against Cleland but his voting record in the Senate. But I don't believe the guy who "came forward." I think that was just a concocted stunt to CYA Cleland for his political career so people wouldn't be saying he was just a klutz who did it to himself. I believe no Democrat.

[alwaysconservative]

Someone here posted the other day sKerry's employment records that were supposedly up on his own website. It said he left one job during college and the reason given was "Uninterested in work". LOLOLOL! It seems that dork-boy's attention span is just a few months, and this country needs a President who is committed to actually working at the job he is hired to do. That would NOT be sKerry.

[ridesthemiles]

Let's have him talk about the Vietnam Human Rights act.
Let's have him talk about his voting record in the Senate.
Let's have him talk about the oversight failure he was accused of by the 9/11 commission.
Let's have him talk about his 'consistency' in voting on the Iraq war.
Let's have him talk about the fact that a man in the Senate for almost 20 years has never sponsored a single major piece of successful legislation.
Let's have him talk about his attendance record in committees.""

Please add: Let's have Kerry talk about the fact that he was "too busy" to attend briefings on CURRENT terrorist activity, which was offered to him by Bush. He just couldn't be bothered.