War hero = President?

[thecanuckguy]

Okay, this is something that I hope all you Republicans out there (and I think there's a couple that read this blog) can answer for me, I don't mean to sound hostile or attacking your party or candidate, but I am honestly asking out of wanting to know the answer: why does it seem, during this campaign, are the Republicans (and the average

Comments

[vakkotaur]

I'm not sure if it has been overplayed or if it's his detractors just saying it has been overplayed. It's a point in his favor - the service thing and not riding phony claims. The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have often been said to have been disproved or discredited, but I have even now, four years later, yet to see anything actually disproved or discredited. I have heard others who not part of the political group who were there (indeed one fellow was actually on Kerry's boat with him) who said they nailed it.

As for the point, it's simply a standard campaign point if it's available, and can be expected of either (or indeed about any) party. You can be sure that if McCain had not served in Vietnam that the Democrats would be pointing that out every chance they had. It's not an issue for Obama as he was young enough that the Vietnam war, and the draft, was over by the time he was old enough to have been affected.

[scooterbird]

The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have often been said to have been disproved or discredited, but I have even now, four years later, yet to see anything actually disproved or discredited.

Oh, come on. That took me about thirty seconds. How did it take you four years?

[thecanuckguy]

Actually, the "overplay" was my observation, came from (obviously, considering the time the original was posted) watching Sarah Palin's speech, followed by the "Raisin' McCain" song (a cute jingle, and a real novel approach to raise support for a candidate!), but also after seeing it mentioned several times in both presentations, made me remember other times it was mentioned

[scooterbird]

There is a tendency in this country to place the job of "soldier" above all others...I think partly as a reaction to Vietnam. It was low to be a soldier then - unfairly, one might argue - and there's been an effort by veterans to restore the idea of the soldier as a position of the highest honor since that time. (Also, given how many veterans are on the streets, something like it may be needed