"I agree with Senator McCain that the ad is inappropriate," Kerry said in a statement released by his campaign [condemning an anti-Bush ad that finally mentioned Bush's apparent desertion]. "This should be a campaign of issues, not insults."
Hours earlier, at a news conference organized by Kerry's campaign, two veterans accused Bush of using family ties to get out of combat.
Kerry served and fought, said retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark (news - web sites), who ran for the Democratic nomination against the senator but now is in his camp. "The other man scrambled and used his family's influence to get out of hearing a shot fired in anger,"
Retired Adm. Stansfield Turner, who was CIA (news - web sites) director in the Carter administration, said Bush "used his father's influence to get into the Air National Guard and avoid going to war."
At the same news conference, Jim Rassmann, who credits Kerry with saving his life while under fire in Vietnam, noted that Kerry has said Bush served honorably. However, Kerry also said in February of Bush's Guard service, which included time in Alabama: "The issue here, as I have heard it raised, is was he present and active on duty in Alabama at the times he was supposed to be? I don't have the answer to that question."
The Kerry campaign did not criticize Clark and Turner.
"Those are veterans who earned the right to their opinion," said spokeswoman Debra DeShong. "John Kerry speaks for John Kerry."
Yes, Bush seems to have been a deserter, who seems to have been AWOL for 30 days.
I saw John O'Neill debating John Kerry on the Dick Cavett show from 1971 on CSPAn the other night.
He wasn't very swift then, and neither was/is Bush.
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