7400--I would agree but for one thing--Kerry has made his 90 days in Vietnam the centerpiece of his public persona--it defines him and makes him a leader and means we should listen to him on security and defense issues. That's his spiel, not the RNC's. And it was his hacks who decided to flyspeck W's unremarkable Air Guard service as if it were something sinister.
Now, putting aside his craven slander of his comrades when he returned (and after discovering you can't get elected in Massachusetts as a war hero, quickly became a war protester), and putting aside the pathetic theatrics of throwing away someone else's medals for the TV cameras while saving his own for his office wall, if he is basing his entitlement to leadership on his illustrious war record, which he clearly is---then that record is open to scrutiny and comment. The fact that he racked up 3 PHs and a Silver Star without ever darkening a hospital door is relevant, since he uses those medals in every speech.
Just as in the courtroom, you can't usually put on character evidence to show your adversary is a bad person, but once they"open the door" by putting reputation and character at issue, it's open season. And of course the DNC and it's media lickspittles have been savaging Bush's reputation since he ws governor of Texas, pretty much non-stop.
