Connecticut Senate Race
[Guest post by DRJ]
John Kerry’s Vietnam War service became an issue in the 2004 Presidential election, but who could have imagined the Vietnam War might still be impacting elections in 2010?
“Richard Blumenthal, current Attorney General of Connecticut and Democratic candidate for Senate, has a problem. A big problem.
Blumenthal is considered the overwhelming favorite to keep Chris Dodd’s seat in Barack Obama’s hands.
But, if this NY Times report is true, Blumenthal’s days should be numbered, because he has flat-out lied about serving in Vietnam, a tale Blumenthal often tells on the campaign trail:
At a ceremony honoring veterans and senior citizens who sent presents to soldiers overseas, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut rose and spoke of an earlier time in his life.
“We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,” Mr. Blumenthal said to the group gathered in Norwalk in March 2008. “And you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it — Afghanistan or Iraq — we owe our military men and women unconditional support.”
There was one problem: Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat now running for the United States Senate, never served in Vietnam. He obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war, according to records.
This should put an end to Blumenthal as a candidate. But “should” never really meant much for Chris Dodd, so we’ll see.”
There’s more in an Update to the link above.
— DRJ
So the question is will Connecticut Democrats replace him right away, or will they wait until October to find someone new for the November ballot?
JVW (08e86a) — 5/17/2010 @ 7:13 pmOne wonders if the NYT, learning that his GOP opponent (who spent 19 months in Nam) knew of the issue, decided to preempt so that the Dem’s could swap out their candidate.
The Drill SGT (9d1b36) — 5/17/2010 @ 7:21 pmHe was with Kerry on the secret foray into Cambodia.Later, he helped shield Hillary from sniper fire in Bosnia.
mike191 (cbb56e) — 5/17/2010 @ 7:22 pmGood Lord! This is is not mendacity, it is insanity.
nk (db4a41) — 5/17/2010 @ 7:30 pmDemocrats must live in their own world where records do not exist or the opposition do not know how to find and read them.
PatAZ (9d1bb3) — 5/17/2010 @ 8:42 pmVietnam – the war all Democrats hate but love to use as evidence of their heroism.
MU789 (ef0527) — 5/17/2010 @ 9:13 pmAh, there is nothing like the populist who hates the common man.
Californio (03e3cd) — 5/17/2010 @ 9:32 pmHe is deemed to have served.
What does an event forty years ago have to do with the excellent job he has done serving the citizens of the great state of Connecticut in the last twenty years? Did anyone die because of his lies?
This is such an easy game to play, ain’t it?
Ed from SFV (f0e1cb) — 5/17/2010 @ 11:12 pmI love the smell of Swiftboating in the morning!
Joe Miller (a85074) — 5/18/2010 @ 6:32 amWas he for the war, before he was against going there himself?
ropelight (8b665e) — 5/18/2010 @ 6:48 amOver at HotAir, I elaborated on how this might be a smear, because I’ve been misquoted and how the USMC does things has changed a great deal since then, but I’ve come to the sad conclusion that I was wrong to defend him. I hate to say this about a fellow Marine, but he’s a Murtha wannabe.
htom (412a17) — 5/18/2010 @ 7:24 amThe saddest part of the press conference today was when he said:
“But I will not allow anyone to take a few misplaced words and impugn my record of service to this country.”
No one would have done that. No one did.
Ag80 (fd2463) — 5/18/2010 @ 8:58 pmtest
[note: fished from spam filter. Probably went there due to brief text. –Stashiu]
Have Blue (854a6e) — 5/18/2010 @ 9:34 pm