Quote:
Originally posted by bilmore
You're not doing your argument any favors.
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When Dems try to bring this stuff up, it doesn't seem to get much traction. Republicans are better at it. That's all I'm saying. The fact the Republicans can make character an issue in this election (and perhaps win on it) is incredible. Look, like or hate Kerry, he's a poster boy for public service. He hasn't killed anyone. No DUIs. No coke accusations. No questions about whether or not he inhaled. No sleeping with interns. No Rhodes scholarship instead of Vietnam.
He served in Vietnam, he came home and spoke his conscience*, he ran for office, he's done his job.**
And yet still, character is an issue you might win on.
NotMe's comment would have made sense when discussing Clinton vs. Tsongas, but not Kerry vs. Gephardt. If Gephardt had won in the primaries, the GOP would be in an uproar over how he's a puppet of the unions, and his eyebrows are bushy.
* The idea that Kerry's Vietnam service and subsequent anti-war activities were motivated by nothing more than raw political ambition is absurd. Why? Because anyone with a serious hunger for power and no real ideology would have gone the exact opposite direction after coming back.
**I'm not particularly interested in reigniting the debate about missing votes. Let's just acknowledge that a campaigning non-incumbent is in a special circumstance, as it has been in every election in the modern era.
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