greatest generation 1, boomers 0

1996 was the first and only time that I chose not to vote in a presidential election. There didn't seem much point; Clinton was going to win anyway, and Republican candidate Bob Dole couldn't seem to muster more of a platform than railing against the gasoline tax.

But that was then. Now, it's safe to say that the gloves are off.

BLITZER: First of all, Senator, what's your bottom line on this whole ad campaign?

DOLE: I think this can hurt Kerry more than all the medal controversy. I mean, one day he's saying that we were shooting civilians, cutting off their ears, cutting off their heads, throwing away his medals or his ribbons. The next day he's standing there, “I want to be president because I'm a Vietnam veteran.”

And I think he's — I said months ago, “John, don't go too far.” And I think he's got himself into this wicket now where he can't extricate himself because not every one of these people can be Republican liars. There's got to be some truth to the charges. […]

BLITZER: The fact that he said on Tim Russert's “Meet the Press” a few months ago he probably went too far. He was a young man just back from Vietnam, and he probably shouldn't have said some of those things during those statements when he came home from Vietnam. Does that ease the responsibility that he has?

DOLE: Maybe he should apologize to all the other 2.5 million veterans who served. He wasn't the only one in Vietnam.

And here's, you know, a good guy, good friend. I respect his record. But three Purple Hearts and never bled that I know of. I mean, they're all superficial wounds. Three Purple Hearts and you're out.

I think Senator Kerry needs to talk about his Senate record, which is pretty thin. That's probably why he's talking about his war record, which is pretty confused. […]

DOLE: I don't quarrel with that. I said John Kerry's a hero. But what I will always quarrel about are the Purple Hearts. I mean, the first one, whether he ought to have a Purple Heart — he got two in one day, I think. [APM: That detail is incorrect, but you get the gist.] And he was out of there in less than four months, because three Purple Hearts and you're out.

And as far as I know, he's never spent one day in the hospital. I don't think he draws any disability pay. He doesn't have any disability. And boasting about three Purple Hearts when you think of some of the people who really got shot up in Vietnam…

BLITZER: And speaking about people getting shot up in Vietnam, the Democrats, at least some Democrats, are now going after the president and the vice president for avoiding service in Vietnam. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, Democrat…

DOLE: He's not a very good one to complain because he was hiding out in Japan, claiming he was a Vietnam veteran.

BLITZER: Well, that's another matter.

(Link via Rand Simberg).

The former Senator's own familiarity with hostile fire may help explain his unusually blunt answers.

[W]hile trying to assist the downed radio man, Dole was hit by Nazi machine gun fire in the upper right back and his right arm was so damaged that it was unrecognizable. Dole was immediately given morphine by an Army field medic to alleviate the pain, and his forehead was marked with an “M” in his own blood to alert medics. He was not expected to live.

Dole of course did live, although his right arm has been useless ever since.

The Blitzer interview excerpted above was from yesterday. Apparently, a notoriously thin-skinned candidate took it real personal. (Via Ace.)

“John Kerry called me this morning, which surprised me,” Dole told radio host Sean Hannity.

Dole said he urged Kerry, “Why don't you call George Bush today and say, 'Mr. President, let's stop all this stuff about the National Guard and Vietnam - and let's talk about the issues.”

Dole said Kerry responded, “I haven't spent one dime attacking President Bush.”

But the Republican war hero shot back, “You don't have to. You've got all the so-called mainstream media, plus you've got MoveOn.org and all these other groups that have spent millions and millions of dollars trying to tarnish Bush's image.”

“Don't tell me you don't know what some of these people are doing,” he told Kerry.

“Everybody likes quiet heroes,” Dole added, saying he told Kerry, “John, everybody knows you were in Vietnam and the less you say about it, the better.”

Good advice. Think Kerry will be able to take it?

Meanwhile, if you have gotten the impression that Kerry's campaign has been a comedy of errors of late—well, you'd be right.

UPDATE: Dole in greater detail, from MSNBC's Scarborough Country. (Via InstaPundit.)

To use an obscure Tolkien metaphor - I think Kerry has Bill Ferny running his campaign.

Thanks for the link.

I'm wondering why we ever thought Dean was the ideal target. Sullivan was right, at least Dean has principles. I'm feeling sorry for Kerry.

On bad days, at times I still fear that the JFK guy will win.

So, my sympathies for the Senator will have to wait. Until, say, his margin of defeat turns out to be >10 percentage points.

In which case wicked, wicked schadenfreude will still be competing with the milk of human kindness.