This, They Notice

A Washington Post article this morning finally takes up the criticism of Kerry's VietNam record, even doing their own research into it. But, as would be expected, the article is critical not of Kerry but of one of the men making the allegations against Kerry. WaPo went so far as to actually get the service records of one of the men, Larry Thurlow, showing that in the engagement where Kerry received his Bronze Star the boats actually did come under fire, countering what Thurlow attested to in a recent affidavit. What is interesting here is that while the Post completely ignored the Kerry in Cambodia story, they picked up pretty quickly on this one.

It seems to me that this issue is getting tired. It may be helping Bush a little bit, but on the other hand it is allowing the campaign to be framed on Kerry's terms. The Bush campaign needs to focus on issues that are relevant today not 35 years ago. Attacking Kerry on his Senate record (or lack thereof) and on his current stances on the War on Terror, as well as on his possible actions towards Iran would be much more effective of a strategy for the Bush Campaign. This VietNam controversy is just noise at a time when there are real issues of life and death.