With his new ad buy and other media actions, Kerry has gone a long way toward undoing damage done by the Swift Boat Liars for Bush. The recent series of articles in the Washington Post, the New York Times and elsewhere have also severely undermined the credibility of the SBLB and will probably help undo some of the damage.
Most of us had long known the motivations of the backers of SBLB. But the magnificent NYT article revealed the genesis of the group and helps explain the motivations of veterans who were not obvious beneficiaries of Bush policies or those of other Texas Republican politicians (link):
Both Mr. Hoffmann and Mr. Lonsdale had publicly lauded Mr. Kerry in the past. But the book, Mr. Brinkley's "Tour of Duty," while it burnished Mr. Kerry's reputation, portrayed the two men as reckless leaders whose military approach had led to the deaths of countless sailors and innocent civilians. Several Swift boat veterans compared Mr. Hoffmann to the bloodthirsty colonel in the film "Apocalypse Now" - the one who loves the smell of Napalm in the morning.
The two men were determined to set the record, as they saw it, straight.
"It was the admiral who started it and got the rest of us into it," Mr. Lonsdale said.
...What drives the veterans, they acknowledge, is less what Mr. Kerry did during his time in Vietnam than what he said after. Their affidavits and their television commercial focus mostly on those antiwar statements. Most members of the group object to his using the word "atrocities" to describe what happened in Vietnam when he returned and became an antiwar activist. And they are offended, they say, by the gall of his running for president as a hero of that war.
"I went to university and was called a baby killer and a murderer because of guys like Kerry and what he was saying," said Van Odell, who appears in the first advertisement, accusing Mr. Kerry of lying to get his Bronze Star. "Not once did I participate in the atrocities he said were happening."
As Mr. Lonsdale explained it: "We won the battle. Kerry went home and lost the war for us.
"He called us rapers and killers and that's not true," he continued. "If he expects our loyalty, we should expect loyalty from him."
Here are my suggestions on how Kerry should appeal to the real concerns of veterans and servicemen. First, Kerry should make it clear that while he stands by his statements that atrocities occurred in Vietnam (he should provide some documentation to make his case) he never meant to accuse any of his fellow veterans personally and he never meant for all his fellow veterans to be considered rapers and babykillers. What he did mean to do was bring pressure to bear on the Nixon administration to end the war and bring home the troops.
Secondly, Kerry should make it clear that he has honored fellow veterans by dedicating himself, along with John McCain, to their causes. His work with McCain to find any POWs should be a centerpiece of this part of his appeal to Veterans.
Third, Kerry should contrast what he has done for Veterans and what he is pledging with what George Bush has done, specifically punching holes In Bush's false claims of support for veterans. Scandalous treatment of our soldiers fighting in Iraq and the wounded from that war should be front and center in this part of the appeal.
Fourth, Kerry should point out that George Bush, whose service record is questionable, doesn't really respect the service of veterans whose records are beyond question. Not only has he refused to condemn the SBLB actions, ads and book against Kerry but he also stood silently by while former Vietnam POW John McCain's record was attacked in 2000.