February 29, 2004

Anti-War Campaign Tactics Dishonest, Ineffective

Veteran political watchers agree that the Democratic primary campaign that will peak Tuesday is the nastiest within memory. At this writing, John Kerry is ahead, but John Edwards is closing fast.

The race is notable for its mud slinging, hyper exaggerations, and wild accusations.

More astounding are the outright distortions directed toward President Bush – the like of which has not seen since the 1964 Democratic tirade against Barry Goldwater.

After being soundly defeated by Lyndon Johnson’s daisy-petal atomic-bomb TV commercial, Goldwater ruefully admitted, "If I hadn’t known Barry Goldwater, and depended on the press and cartoons, I would’ve voted against the son-of-a-bitch myself."

Waving the bloody shirt is a staple of gutter politics – and Kerry has taken the technique to a new low.

Liberal Democrats have the screaming meemies over the loss of the presidency to Bush in 2000.

However, the cause was a lack-luster candidate in Al Gore and by left-wing Democrats who voted for Ralph Nader. This swung two states away from Gore.

The same calamity sunk President Bush The Elder in 1992. Right-wing Republicans voted for Ross Perot, thereby swinging vital electorals to Bill Clinton.

Bush The Younger has racked up an unprecedented approval rating by guiding to soft landing a recession inherited from Clinton.  And by confronting the arch-terrorist Osama Bin Laden who attacked us unprovoked.

Kerry’s principal campaign tactic is to whip up an anti-war fervor. The Massachusetts junior senator was stung by the sudden combat victory over Iraq -- and Bush’s dramatic landing on a returning aircraft carrier.

Envy is a terrible affliction.

Terry McAuliff, chairman of the National Democratic Party – with Kerry’s approval – stirred up a mud pit rimmed with accusations that Bush was a Vietnam War draft dodger.

The young Bush was said to have joined the Texas Air National Guard to avoid combat  – unlike Kerry who volunteered for Vietnam service.

In four months, Kerry captained a river patrol boat, shot dead a wounded Viet Cong, was awarded a Silver Star and sustained three superficial wounds meriting Purple Hearts.

On the strength of the latter, Kerry applied for and was granted an honorable discharge. Critics suspect he wangled special consideration for high-profile duty and a quick out.

Whatever. Kerry served well.

 Kerry returned and joined Jane Fonda’s anti-war movement. He joined other Vietnam veterans in throwing their medals on the steps of the nation’s Capitol.

Only it wasn’t his medals. I was the breast ribbons  -- easily replaced -- representing the medals. The real things are framed today in his Senate office.

The ultimate chutzpah is a new Democratic mantra –  "Vietnam was Nixon’s war!" Politiking is acceptable. Rewriting history, however, is unforgivable.

Vietnam was a Kennedy-Johnson war. It was engaged for good purpose – to halt the spread of communism. However, it was lost for lack of conviction.

President Eisenhower warned that defeat of the French in Vietnam would create a "domino effect" engulfing all of southeast Asia.

Indeed, the French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu in l954. A massacre of Christian, democratic Vietnamese and Cambodians began.  

Kennedy narrowly defeated Nixon and in January 1961 sent 21,000 American soldiers to Vietnam to try and stop the slaughter. By December, the number of soldiers reached 160,000.

When Johnson became president with the assassination of Kennedy, he trumped up a "Tonkin Gulf" attack to increase American troop strength to 8,752,000.

This after vowing during his re-election campaign "not to send American boys to fight in a foreign war." He set a policy of "containing" the Viet communists rather than defeating them.

American casualties, however, were horrendous -- 47,393 soldiers killed in action and another 10,800 dead by disease and accidents. More than 153,000 were awarded Purple Heart medals.

Nixon was elected to stop the Kennedy-Johnson carnage, which he did by bugging out. It was unbecoming -- but the only solution short of dropping a couple of A-bombs.

Let us be done with preposterous war mongering and thank President Bush for confronting this century’s anti-democracy enemies with a minimum of lives and cost.

His domestic policies are contentious enough to challenge his reelection.

Lindsey Williams is a Sun columnist who can be reached at linwms@lindseywilliams.org.