QandO

July 28, 2004

Why all the Vietnam?
Posted by McQ

Are you wondering why the Kerry campaign is dwelling 30 years in the past, trying to use Kerry’s Vietnam service as the centerpiece at the convention instead of the more recent 20 years of his Senate record?

Reports have it that the convention center is covered with Kerry Vietnam era pictures (although I’m sure none of them include a tasteful “Winter Soldier” montage or a medal flinging pic). Kerry grandstands in his convention entrance using a water taxi as his “swift boat” and stocking it with his Vietnam “band of brothers”. Kerry’s super-8 film from Vietnam will play heavily in the film about the man, although we may have difficulty separating the real action from the reenactments. Ms. Heinz-Kerry lovingly tells the world that John got his medals “the old fashioned way, he earned them.”

Of course I know why they’re hanging out in Vietnam. Because that’s the last time he was actually strong on defense. OK, I’m being facetious. But really .... how do 120 days in a combat zone trump a 7300 days (20 years) in the Senate? Regardless of the Star Trek defense (“deflectors up, full speed ahead”) its his record in the Senate which tells the true tale of the real John Kerry, presidential candidate.

Not Vietnam.

The first thing one must understand is Kerry’s running away from the “L” word. Kerry is a liberal, but apparently not a proud one. Vietnam duty isn’t a typical “liberal” thing. But if you're trying to cover a liberal voting record, it does provide that deflector shield for which your looking.

Facts, however, give a little different picture. In 2003, per the Congressional Quarterly, he voted against the President 70% of the time (that’s when he showed up). Ted Kennedy, everyone’s liberal liberal only did so 53% of the time. In fact rankings from both sides of the fence clearly show Kerry’s liberal tendencies, with the Americans for Democratic Action (a liberal group) rating him at a lifetime 94 (which is more liberal than Kennedy) while the American Conservative Union rates him a lifetime 6. To paraphrase Jeff Foxworthy, “you might be a liberal if you’re to the left of Ted Kennedy.”.

While that's pretty damning itself, perhaps the most disturbing trait observed about Kerry is his desire to have it both ways in order to maximize the political capital to be had in any event or issue. Depending on the velocity and direction of the political wind he can be found to be for something at one time and completely against it later.

For example the Patriot Act. When it was passed Kerry said on the Senate floor, "It reflects an enormous amount of hard work by the members of the Senate Banking Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee. I congratulate them and thank them for that work." Kerry said he was "pleased at the compromise we have reached on the anti-terrorism legislation."

Later, as the political wind shifted in the form of Howard Dean and it was more politically expedient to denounce the act, Kerry took a sniff and announced the Patriot Act was all John Ashcroft’s fault. "We are a nation of laws and liberties, not of a knock in the night," Kerry said. "So it is time to end the era of John Ashcroft. That starts with replacing the Patriot Act with a new law that protects our people and our liberties at the same time."

So the Patriot Act, for which Kerry voted, went from a great compromise piece of anti-terrorism legislation to an abomination foisted upon us by the right. Sniffing away, Kerry changed his tack and took some of the wind from Dean’s sails..

Another example is the “No Child Left Behind” legislation. Presently the story is that NCLB is "one-size-fits-all testing mania.". Even worse, according to Kerry, is the “fact” that it isn’t being funded. Of course that’s not true, funding for education under Bush is up 65%, but then the truth has never stood in the way of a good assertion.

Of course that wasn’t always the case. Its hard to understand his attacks on NCLB when he was so proud of being such an integral part in its introduction and passage. "This is groundbreaking legislation that enhances the federal government's commitment to our nation's public education system ... and embraces many of the principles and programs that I believe are critical to improving the public education system."

Back then he crowed about the passage of “his” bill: "Last year I worked with 10 of my Democratic colleagues to introduce legislation that would help break the stalemate and move beyond the tired, partisan debates of the past. Our education proposal became the foundation of the bill before us today."

Kerry helped birth the bill and but now denies he's responsible. The political DNA test denies his denial.

Probably the most famous of the wind sniffing events had to do with the war in Iraq. Last summer on Meet the Press, Kerry said: “"We did not empower the president to do regime change.” But in actuality, Kerry supported a resolution which specifically called for regime change not to mention the fact that Kerry voted for a Clinton resolution in 1998 which also called for regime change. Apparently Kerry was more than willing to authorize regime change in two different administrations, until, that is, the political winds changed. Either that or he doesn’t understand what the term “regime change” means or didn’t really read the resolutions for which he voted.

The denial on MTP is Kerry appealing to the anti-war left after being driven in that direction by the Howard Dean threat to his candidacy. But the others are also vintage Kerry. Like the NCLB, giving his vote but not really giving his vote. The now classic “I voted for the 87 billion before I voted against it”is more typical than he’d like to admit.

Those few examples give us a clue as to the reason why Vietnam is so very, very visible in Boston right now. The “attributes” outlined above will not be on display. In fact they’ll be well hidden, by design.

The question is can his 120 days in Vietnam give cover to his 7300 days in the Senate?

As we know the announced purpose of the event is to “introduce” John Kerry to America. The Democrats will tell you its because they want America to get to know the real John Kerry. But with all the Vietnam and none of the Senate you have to wonder about that. When you really consider the approach, it would seem disingenuous at best. It would seem, in reality, that they really don’t want America to get to know him that well. Not well enough to understand that his Vietnam service in no way portrays the ‘real’ John Kerry.

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