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Fate of Kerry medals sparks political fray
By SCOTT SHEPARD and MATT QUINN
Cox News Service
WASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry accused Republicans Monday of concocting a "phony controversy" over his Vietnam combat decorations and 1971 anti-war protests.
Kerry's accusation came on the same day as The New York Times published a report questioning his long-standing account of those protests -- specifically, whether he symbolically discarded his Navy medals or the cloth "ribbons" worn on uniforms that signify them.
"This is a phony controversy," Kerry said on ABC's "Good Morning America" program. "This comes from a president who can't even show or prove that he showed up for duty in the National Guard."
Kerry had generally avoided questioning President Bush's non-combat National Guard service during the Vietnam War, including a year in Alabama that was not fully documented. But that changed Monday, after the Times article and a Sunday television appearance by Bush confidante Karen Hughes raising similar allegations about Kerry's war protests.
Hughes said on CNN that she was "very troubled" that Kerry had "pretended" to throw away his medals in the protests when, in fact, he had only discarded the ribbons.
"Now, I can understand if out of conscience you take a principles stand and you would decide that you were so opposed to this that you would actually throw your medals," she said. "But to pretend to do so, I think that's very revealing."
Kerry has long insisted that he threw away his ribbons, along with the actual medals of two veterans who were not able to attend the ceremony, and that he has never claimed to have discarded his medals.
But the Times article Monday described the transcript of a 1971 television interview in which Kerry suggested he had thrown away his own medals in the highly publicized anti-war demonstration in which hundreds of veterans toss their decorations over a fence at the U.S. Capitol.
Kerry, appearing on ABC from a campaign stop in West Virginia, insisted Monday that there was "no distinction" between medals and ribbons at the time of the protest.
"We threw away the symbols of the war," Kerry said. "I'm proud I stood up and fought against it, proud I took on Richard Nixon. And I think to this day, there's no distinction between the two (medals and ribbons)."
The 1971 TV interview that was the basis of the Times article was broadcast by ABC on Monday. It had been archived by the communications office in the Nixon White House, which had added Kerry to its infamous "enemies list."
In the interview, during a discussion of Vietnam veterans giving back their medals, Kerry was asked, "How many did you give back, John?" Kerry replied, "I gave back, I can't remember, six, seven, eight, nine."
The host then notes that Kerry had won three Purple Hearts, and Bronze and Silver stars. Kerry says, "Well, and above that, I gave back my others."
Kerry said Monday that he - and the military - use the words "medals" and "ribbons" interchangeably. And he insisted that he has always accurately said what took place in the protest 33 years ago. "I threw my ribbons. ... It is very simple."
Anthony Coley, spokesman for the Kerry campaign, blamed "(Vice President) Dick Cheney and the smear machine" for "pushing" the story, which he described as "just a distraction" in the presidential campaign. And he took the opportunity to attack Bush and Cheney once again for their military records of lack thereof.
"At the end of the day, the debate will be between John Kerry, a decorated war hero, and a vice president who told us he had 'other priorities' in the 1970s and a president who still hasn't answered questions about whether he showed up at the National Guard for his service," Coley said.
Similarly, the Internet-based group, MoveOn.org., responded with a TV ad in defense of Kerry and e-mails to members likening the attacks on Kerry to the "whisper campaign" about Sen. John McCain's mental stability during the 2000 Republican presidential contest against Bush.
Ed Gillespie, national Republican Party chairman, seized on the news accounts to charge once again that Kerry is a serial flip-flopper. Kerry's statement that he had never claimed he had thrown away his medals, as opposed to his ribbons, is "flat-out refuted by his own words," he said in a conference call with reporters.
Gary C. Jacobson, a political science professor at the University of California/San Diego, called the back-and-forth "nit-picking at the margins" that will not change the minds of many voters. "Republicans are preaching to the choir and Democrats are doing much the same thing," he said.
"I don't think swing voters will pay attention on whether it's ribbons or medals," he said. "But the underlying Republican theme is that Kerry flip-flops. It's another item on the long list they will produce," he said.
Jenny Backus, a Washington-based political strategist, said the Republicans, by pouncing on the disclosure about Kerry's comments, were following a "short-sighted strategy" because it only reminds people about John Kerry's military record, "which is his strongest selling point to voters."
But Whit Ayres, a Republican political consultant, called the controversy "noise" that in itself will influence few voters. "My feeling about old Vietnam controversies is they are breathtakingly irrelevant when you have a 19-year Senate career to consider. What matters is his [Kerry's] votes on defense policy, weapon systems and the war on terrorism," he said.
Ron Miller of Roswell, Ga., a defense consultant who headed Veterans for Dole for Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole in 1996 and is a Bush supporter this year, said whether Kerry discarded his medals or his ribbons "doesn't make any difference."
"It's all the same," Miller added. "That was his way of protesting."
Fate of Kerry medals sparks political fray
By SCOTT SHEPARD and MATT QUINN
Cox News Service
WASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry accused Republicans Monday of concocting a "phony controversy" over his Vietnam combat decorations and 1971 anti-war protests.
Kerry's accusation came on the same day as The New York Times published a report questioning his long-standing account of those protests -- specifically, whether he symbolically discarded his Navy medals or the cloth "ribbons" worn on uniforms that signify them.
"This is a phony controversy," Kerry said on ABC's "Good Morning America" program. "This comes from a president who can't even show or prove that he showed up for duty in the National Guard."
Kerry had generally avoided questioning President Bush's non-combat National Guard service during the Vietnam War, including a year in Alabama that was not fully documented. But that changed Monday, after the Times article and a Sunday television appearance by Bush confidante Karen Hughes raising similar allegations about Kerry's war protests.
Hughes said on CNN that she was "very troubled" that Kerry had "pretended" to throw away his medals in the protests when, in fact, he had only discarded the ribbons.
"Now, I can understand if out of conscience you take a principles stand and you would decide that you were so opposed to this that you would actually throw your medals," she said. "But to pretend to do so, I think that's very revealing."
Kerry has long insisted that he threw away his ribbons, along with the actual medals of two veterans who were not able to attend the ceremony, and that he has never claimed to have discarded his medals.
But the Times article Monday described the transcript of a 1971 television interview in which Kerry suggested he had thrown away his own medals in the highly publicized anti-war demonstration in which hundreds of veterans toss their decorations over a fence at the U.S. Capitol.
Kerry, appearing on ABC from a campaign stop in West Virginia, insisted Monday that there was "no distinction" between medals and ribbons at the time of the protest.
"We threw away the symbols of the war," Kerry said. "I'm proud I stood up and fought against it, proud I took on Richard Nixon. And I think to this day, there's no distinction between the two (medals and ribbons)."
The 1971 TV interview that was the basis of the Times article was broadcast by ABC on Monday. It had been archived by the communications office in the Nixon White House, which had added Kerry to its infamous "enemies list."
In the interview, during a discussion of Vietnam veterans giving back their medals, Kerry was asked, "How many did you give back, John?" Kerry replied, "I gave back, I can't remember, six, seven, eight, nine."
The host then notes that Kerry had won three Purple Hearts, and Bronze and Silver stars. Kerry says, "Well, and above that, I gave back my others."
Kerry said Monday that he - and the military - use the words "medals" and "ribbons" interchangeably. And he insisted that he has always accurately said what took place in the protest 33 years ago. "I threw my ribbons. ... It is very simple."
Anthony Coley, spokesman for the Kerry campaign, blamed "(Vice President) Dick Cheney and the smear machine" for "pushing" the story, which he described as "just a distraction" in the presidential campaign. And he took the opportunity to attack Bush and Cheney once again for their military records of lack thereof.
"At the end of the day, the debate will be between John Kerry, a decorated war hero, and a vice president who told us he had 'other priorities' in the 1970s and a president who still hasn't answered questions about whether he showed up at the National Guard for his service," Coley said.
Similarly, the Internet-based group, MoveOn.org., responded with a TV ad in defense of Kerry and e-mails to members likening the attacks on Kerry to the "whisper campaign" about Sen. John McCain's mental stability during the 2000 Republican presidential contest against Bush.
Ed Gillespie, national Republican Party chairman, seized on the news accounts to charge once again that Kerry is a serial flip-flopper. Kerry's statement that he had never claimed he had thrown away his medals, as opposed to his ribbons, is "flat-out refuted by his own words," he said in a conference call with reporters.
Gary C. Jacobson, a political science professor at the University of California/San Diego, called the back-and-forth "nit-picking at the margins" that will not change the minds of many voters. "Republicans are preaching to the choir and Democrats are doing much the same thing," he said.
"I don't think swing voters will pay attention on whether it's ribbons or medals," he said. "But the underlying Republican theme is that Kerry flip-flops. It's another item on the long list they will produce," he said.
Jenny Backus, a Washington-based political strategist, said the Republicans, by pouncing on the disclosure about Kerry's comments, were following a "short-sighted strategy" because it only reminds people about John Kerry's military record, "which is his strongest selling point to voters."
But Whit Ayres, a Republican political consultant, called the controversy "noise" that in itself will influence few voters. "My feeling about old Vietnam controversies is they are breathtakingly irrelevant when you have a 19-year Senate career to consider. What matters is his [Kerry's] votes on defense policy, weapon systems and the war on terrorism," he said.
Ron Miller of Roswell, Ga., a defense consultant who headed Veterans for Dole for Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole in 1996 and is a Bush supporter this year, said whether Kerry discarded his medals or his ribbons "doesn't make any difference."
"It's all the same," Miller added. "That was his way of protesting."
