A poll released Friday by the University of Pennsylvania's National Annenberg Election Survey shows that in the battle between President Bush and John Kerry over each other's Vietnam war records, Bush is winning - without even so much as firing a shot.
Most Americans told Annenberg that the 30-year-old war wasn't among their top priorities.
But for those who cared, more were offended by Kerry's anti-war protests while paired up with the likes of "Hanoi" Jane Fonda than were concerned about what Bush did or didn't do while serving in the National Guard.
The survey found that overall, 44 percent of Americans disapproved of Kerry's anti-war activities, with 40 percent saying they approved, according to the Associated Press. Seventeen percent of those surveyed both disapproved of Kerry's conduct and said it would matter "a great deal" toward determining how they would vote.
Meanwhile, 62 percent of Americans felt Bush had fulfilled his obligations in the Texas Air National Guard, while 38 percent said he had not. But only 12 percent of Americans said Bush hadn't fulfilled his obligations, saying it would matter "a great deal" in deciding their votes.
In most cases, those who were deeply troubled by either Bush or Kerry's Vietnam record had already decided to back the other candidate.
Still, a poll showing that the Massachusetts Democrat is more vulnerable on the Vietnam issue has to be particularly good news for Bush's political team, especially since the Democrat-leaning press has had the White House on the defensive for the last three weeks over questions about Bush's Guard service.
Meanwhile, GOP officials has been completely mum on Kerry's Fonda connection, as well as his damning 1971 testimony before the Senate where he portrayed his brother Vietnam veterans as war criminals. In fact, but for talk radio and the Internet, the facts on Kerry's anti-war antics would have gone mostly uncovered by the mainstream press.
Another problem for Kerry: while the controversy over Bush's Guard service has largely been exhausted, new revelations from his anti-war past keep dribbling out.
On Sunday, for instance, Kerry biographer Douglas Brinkley contended that the leading Democrat's activity with the radical leftist group, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, was an attempt by the future presidential candidate to build a legal case against his own country.
"He was really trying to get an indictment going against the U.S. government - for misadventures in Vietnam, or, one might say, war crimes," Brinkley told Newsday.
On Saturday, Kerry challenged Bush to have a national debate on their respective Vietnam war records. But if the Annenberg survey is any indication, the best response for the White House may just be: Bring it on!
Annenberg surveyed 1,749 Americans between The Feb. 11-19. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Link: Better luck next time
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