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Dole Rises to Kerry's Defense Over Vietnam
Sun May 2, 4:38 PM ET
By JENNIFER C. KERR, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Former Sen. Bob Dole isn't making much of the controversy over whether decorated Vietnam veteran John Kerry threw away his medals or ribbons during a 1971 anti-war protest.
When it comes to choosing a president, "I don't think it matters," Dole, the Republican candidate for president in 1996 and a veteran whose arm was badly injured in World War II, told Fox New Sunday.
Kerry returned from Vietnam an outspoken critic of the war. For years, he has said he threw away his ribbons, not his three Purple Hearts, Bronze Star and Silver Star during a protest at the U.S. Capitol. But a tape surfaced last week of a television interview he gave shortly after the protest in which he suggested that he tossed more than just the ribbons.
"I think some of the things he said were probably not very good judgment," Dole said of the Democrat, "but he was a much younger man then without much experience in public life."
Kerry maintains that he used the terms ribbons and medals interchangeably.
Still, Dole said Kerry might have trouble explaining his anti-war activities, particularly to veterans. "He made his point, and he's going to have to live with it," said Dole.
Asked why Vietnam is a hot-button issue these days, Dole said, "I'm not certain it's that red hot of a button."
Other Republicans, namely Bush adviser Karen Hughes, have chastised Kerry for "pretending" to throw away the medals.
Kerry responded to the criticism by lashing out at President Bush for failing to put to rest questions about his National Guard service during the Vietnam era. His comments came a day after Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) went on the offensive, questioning whether Kerry was weak on national security.
To Dole, the 2004 campaign is "getting pretty hot pretty early" and has "gotten very personal."
"It ought to slow down, cool off a while," he observed. "The American people aren't going to listen if that's all they hear every day is criticism and name-calling by the Bush team or by the Kerry team."
If it were up to South Carolina, there's no question who would be Kerry's running mate.
One vendor sold out of "Kerry-Edwards" buttons at the state's Democratic Party convention Saturday amid the hoopla surrounding John Edwards, the state's popular native son and U.S. senator from North Carolina. Edwards addressed a cheering crowd of about 2,000 Saturday at South Carolina's Democratic Party Convention in Columbia.
Edwards folded his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in March after winning only South Carolina's primary the month before. But his performance on the campaign trail and his optimistic message fueled talk that Kerry should add him to the Democratic presidential ticket.
Kerry isn't saying much about his preferences for a running mate, but his campaign has begun background checks on Edwards, retiring Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt and two-term Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.
Edwards said Sunday that he won't discuss the process either.
"I'm not going to talk about that," he told CNN's "Late Edition." "John Kerry has asked, said he wants to keep this process confidential and private and dignified. And I think it's appropriate for me to respect that."
Asked whether there was any doubt that he'd like to be the Democrats' vice presidential candidate, Edwards responded: "There's no doubt that I want to make John Kerry president of the United States, not for me but for my kids and my grandkids and for my country."
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, often mentioned as a possible No. 2 because of his Hispanic heritage, visited Columbia on Friday to attend the Democrat's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner.
Jeanne Shaheen, the chairwoman of Kerry's campaign, on Sunday urged a group of cheering women at a forum sponsored by the United Steel Workers of America to help spread his message regarding the economy, trade and health care. She also asked for their help registering potential voters for what she called a "grass-roots army."
"We really do need your help 'cause this campaign and this election is gonna be won, I think, not by the campaign that spends the most money," said Shaheen, a former New Hampshire governor. "We are going to need your help in building that grass roots army that's going to win this election."
At the forum on election issues for working women from industrial states, Shaheen also asked the several hundred women in attendance to make sure their neighbors are registered to vote, to volunteer with the union and to write letters to their local newspapers and to call in to radio shows to demonstrate support for and to "correct the record" about Kerry.
"I know it's hard, but listen to Rush Limbaugh," Shaheen said of the conservative radio host as the audience laughed.
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