From the mixed up files of John Kerry
The Standard Online features the next installment of our radio hero Hugh Hewitt in "The Kerry files, part 3."
Hugh's column should be read together with the New York Times article on the service Max Cleland is performing as John Kerry's talisman on the campaign trail: "For ex-senator, Kerry race is chance to rejoin the battle." The article notes:
On Wednesday, Mr. Cleland began appearing in television advertisements for Mr. Kerry in his native Georgia. He also held a conference call to criticize Ed Gillespie, the Republican National Committee chairman, saying that for Mr. Gillespie, who did not serve in the military, to criticize Mr. Kerry, who was wounded three times in Vietnam, "is like a mackerel in the moonlight — it both shines and stinks at the same time." Earlier, he used the same line against Senator Chambliss.The article also carries an accurate account of the incident that caused Cleland's horrible injuries, and the inevitable Ann Coulter angle:Democrats are delighted. "I hope Max is getting some sweet revenge," said Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the Democratic leader.
He's a very effective spokesman, because he has a very appealing story," said Merle Black, a political scientist at Emory University in Atlanta. "Among Democrats he's viewed as a hero who went down not only in military battle, but also in political battle."I confidently predict that we'll be hearing from Cleland a lot through election day, and, if Kerry wins, a lot more thereafter.That is precisely what irks Republicans, who say Mr. Cleland lost his Senate race because of his poor record, not Republican attacks. Most, sensing what Mr. Black called Mr. Cleland's status as "a folk hero," only whisper their complaints in private.
One exception is Ann Coulter, the conservative columnist, who has recently taken Mr. Cleland to task for "allowing Democrats to portray him as a war hero" when his injuries were the result of an accident, rather than enemy fire.
The accident occurred on April 8, 1968. Mr. Cleland, then a 25-year-old Army captain and communications officer, had taken a helicopter to a hill near Khe Sanh, to set up a radio relay site for battle. He unloaded his equipment and boarded the copter for the return trip, only to change his mind at the last minute, deciding to stay on the hill to finish the job and drink a beer with friends.
As he ducked under the helicopter blades, he spotted a grenade on the ground. Thinking it was his own — and that the pin was intact — he picked it up, and it exploded. "He could have done that at Fort Dix," Ms. Coulter wrote.
Democrats were outraged. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island denounced Ms. Coulter on the floor of the Senate. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California called the article "dastardly, vicious and untrue." Donna Brazile, the Democratic strategist, said: "Ann needs a transplant. A heart transplant."
