Conventional wisdom for the last couple of decades has been that veterans and active duty personal vote Republican. And as a trend that may not necessarily have changed. But, the choice between Bush and Kerry seems to increasingly be challenging the conventional wisdom, at least with respect to this election.

Kerry is a decorated veteran who twice volunteered for the Vietnam War. Meanwhile unanswered questions linger over whether Bush fulfilled his duty to the National Guard during his term of service here in America. Even though records thought to have been destroyed have surfaced, they don't provide answers.

Fresh from receiving the endorsement of 12 retired Generals and Admirals, including two former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Starr and a former Director of the CIA, Kerry is making headway in the battle for the military vote. Many lower ranked officers like our friend Jon Zall Colonel, U.S. Air Force (retired)of Voice of a Veteran (also linked from our blog roll) support Kerry over Bush too. And over 500 of the delegates at the Democratic Convention were veterans.

A CBS News poll released a month before the Democratic Convention showed that Bush was winning the veteran vote by a 52 - 37% margin. A little over a month later a new CBS poll showed that Bush had dropped from 52% to 47% while Kerry had improved from 37% to 41% among veterans - a mere 6 point gap, with Bush dropping several points below 50%.

These seem to be ominous trends for this "War" President. With new websites by veterans supplimenting the many existing veterans sites that oppose President Bush, it increasingly seems that the veteran vote might turn into a liability for Bush come November. Perhaps knowing who served and who didn't is playing a larger and larger role in making up veteran's minds about whom to vote for this November.

The RNC and Bush/Cheney 04 have gone on the attack now that the Democratic convention is over. The charge: Democrats have engineered an "extreme makeover" to hide their ultra-liberal, out-of-the-mainstream views. And the conservative press corps have taken up the banner and are running with it. But do they have the facts on their side? David Brock and Jamison Foser give some answers with their Redefining 'Mainstream'.

A few highlights:

A new CBS News/NYT poll out says that 54% of Americans have a favorable view of the Democratic Party.

"Same-sex marriage? John Kerry opposed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. That position is so out-of-touch, so ultra-liberal that both George W. Bush and Dick Cheney agreed with it in 2000. (They've since changed their mind in a shameless election-year flip-flop designed to appeal to their base.) And according to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, only 38 percent of Americans support the constitutional amendment, while a majority agrees with Kerry that the issue should be left to the states."

"What about abortion? Kerry favors reproductive rights for women but voted in favor of a measure that would ban late-term abortions except in cases where the life or health of the woman is at risk. A majority of Americans agree that abortion should be legal in most cases."

So who is really outside of the mainstream, Kerry or Bush?

What are your thoughts on the just concluded Democratic Convention? Do you think Kerry made his case to the American people? Who was your favorite speaker? Least favorite speaker?

What movie are you anxious to see or just saw?

I saw I, Robot last week with my daughters and we loved it! Will Smith continues to impress me with his serious acting skills. He's a distinctive looking guy who could have easily been typecast by his earlier SitCom role. But, somehow Smith transcendes his own reputation and makes each new role believable on it's own merits.

There are a lot of things about John Kerry that I don't find particularly appealing or am downright turned off by. But, I have been both intrigued by and attracted to his core character as I see it revealed thru his actions.

Tonight his daughters both spoke briefly in the lead up to his grand entrance. Daughter Alexandra Kerry was especially poignant and moving. She related a story from their childhood. The family was going somewhere and her sister had packed up all of her favorite animals, including a hamster in it's cage. They were on a dock and somehow the hamster's cage got knocked over the edge. They could see it sinking down into the water, trailing a line of bubbles. John immediately jumped in the water, grabbed a nearby oar and fished the hamster cage out of the water. He then proceeded to give the hamster CPR, saving it's life.

As I listened to Alexandra relate the story I was reminded of the event in Vietnam for which Kerry was awarded the Bronze Star. They'd been on a Swift boat mission and one of the other Swift boats had hit a mine, blowing a Special Forces officer into the river. Under intense shore fire the boats hastily retreated down river to put distance between them and the Viet Cong trap they'd found themselves in. Someone notified Kerry that the SF guy was overboard and Kerry sent the whole group charging back up the river to save him. They lowered a net over the side and the SF guy managed to grab ahold of it. But, he was unable to pull himself over the edge and into the boat. Meanwhile they were facing intense shore fire and bullets were whizzing thru the air. The SF guy was not going to live thru the event if he couldn't get out of the line of fire. Kerry left the relative safety of the helm and personally went up and expozed himself to the shore fire by reaching over the side and pulling the SF guy into the boat and safety.

Both of these events reveal to me a glimpse of Kerry's character. Particularly the experience in Vietnam. He didn't have to go back. Nobody would have questioned it if he hadn't. Heck, most of them probably figured this Special Forces guy was dead already. By his own account he was being shot at while in the water even before Kerry brought the Swift boat group back to save him. It was quite simply a selfless act of courage that Kerry demonstrated that day. Later with the hamster he revealed another aspect which I find intriguing - a love for and valuation of life, as well as a willingness to do whatever necessary in a crisis. When minutes or even seconds are critical it comes down to core character traits which separate those who act immediately and those who don't.

Does it matter? Are selfless courage and the ability to act decisively in a crisis character traits that you want in a President? How about valuing life? Do you want a President who values life? Is it enough for you that a candidate talks the talk? Or do you want some sort of evidence of walking the walk too? My answer to each of those is an affirmative.

Recent IRS data shows that American's incomes fell for a second consecutive year. That has never happened under our current tax system which dates back to WWII. The last year in which American's incomes fell at all was 1953.

American's incomes dropped $350 b-i-l-l-i-o-n from where it was last year. Job losses are blamed for much of the loss.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong here... But, didn't President Bush promise that his first tax cut would produce a bunch of new jobs? And didn't President Bush promise that his second tax cut would produce a bunch of jobs? So, where are they? The stock market is doing fairly well. Those who can afford to play the stock market are doing okay. So when is it supposed to trickle down to the rest of us?

Inquiring (and voting) minds want to know...

Vice President Cheney was in Utah today, fund-raising for John Swallow's Congressional race there. As usual Cheney presumed upon the stupidity of the American people by critizing Kerry and Edwards for having voted against the $87 billion appropriations bill for the Iraq War and the War on Terror in Afghanistan. He said that he and Bush have made troop support a national priority.

Okay my fellow idiots... let's see if we can reason our way thru this growing pile of BS. Vote against military spending and you're a bad guy who can't defend this country. We would have to assume from this line of "logic" that speaking against military funding would be equally disqualifying.

Oh... but wait a second. Didn't Congressman Cheney criticize President Reagan's defense spending? Yes he did! And didn't Congressman Cheney call for deep cuts in defense spending? Yes he did! And didn't Secretary of Defense Cheney follow thru on that theme by cutting billions of dollars out of the defense budget? Yes he did!

In 1990, Cheney bragged to Congress that as Defense Secretary he "cut almost $65 billion out of the five-year defense program" and that subsequent proposals would "take another $167 billion out." He highlighted, "we're recommending base closures," "we're talking about force structure cuts" and "we've got a military construction freeze"[Congressional Testimony, 2/1/90]. Dick Cheney, Vice Flip-Flopper In Chief

Ma... hand me them hip waders. It's gettin' awefully deep in here. It smells to high heaven too.

Halliburton subsidiary KBR is accused of losing millions of dollars worth of government property it was supposed to be managing and taking care of in Iraq.

I know that conservatives like to charge liberals with being "communists". But, it seems to me that sweetheart "no-bid" contracts and the resulting mismanagement are the antithesis of capitalism. Isn't the alleged waste, fraud and mismanagement by Halliburton in Iraq the exact kind of thing the Soviet Union was famous for?

Twelve year old Ilana Wexler admonished Vice President Cheney last night at the Democratic Convention for his use of profanity. "When our vice president had a disagreement with a Democratic senator, he used a really bad word," Ilana said. "If I said that word, I would be put in a timeout. I think he should be put in a timeout."

Out of the mouthes of babes...

Ilana founded a grass-roots organization called Kids For Kerry.

You know how some people with a sharp memory are described as having a mind like a steel trap? Well... Carla and I like to joke about my steel sieve because my memory pretty much sucks. The weird thing is that I have an amazing memory for really obscure things. But, I digress...

Carla's 40th birthday was either yesterday or it's tomorrow. For the life of me I can't seem to remember if it's the 26th or the 28th. The only thing I'm reasonably sure of is that it's one of the two. So, I'm going with the happy medium, the 27th, to wish her a happy birthday. This way I'm only one day off... Which way will have to wait until she gets back a week from tomorrow to correct me. LOL

From our friend at Voice of a Veteran.

The conversation went something like this:


Republican National Committee (RNC) rep: I’m calling to see if you are willing to support Republicans with a contribution. We noticed that you haven’t given anything to the party for a long time.

A Vet: Yes you are right. I've been an Independent for years, and I’m now a registered Democrat.

RNC rep: May I ask why you switched parties?

A Vet: How much time do you have?

RNC rep: (pause…) Well, was there a particular reason? And can we get you back?

A Vet: The answer to the second question is “no.” The answer to the first question (abridged version for blog readers) is that I am a veteran, and the Bush administration has ignored or played lip service to veterans and our military including our reserves and national guard. I’m especially concerned with this administration blowing off veterans’ health care, lack of support to disabled and homeless veterans, and the shameful misuse of our military for preemptive warfare without evidence of WMDs or ties of Al Qaeda to Iraq. Somebody in the Republican party is taking veterans’ support for granted, just like they always have, and forgetting that millions of voting veterans are involved in this election – many of whom now feel like I do.

That’s just for starters.

RNC rep: Thank you very much. Good afternoon.

A Vet: Good bye.

The national Democratic platform has been quietly changed in one fundamental area - Capital Punishment. For the first time since 1988 the Democratic nominee will not run on a pro-death penalty platform.

John Kerry cites his personal experience killing people in Vietnam as being key in why he opposes capital punishment in almost all cases. Although he did alter his stance somewhat after 9/11 saying that he would consider capital punishment, in limited cases, for foreign terrorists. In contrast is George W. Bush. A man with no known experience killing anyone and who publically mocked a deathrow inmate who had appealed for clemency.

Noteworthy is the fact that 12 states bar capital punishment. Among them are some key battleground states - Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Maine and West Virginia.

A few days ago President Bush addressed the Urban Institute. In his speech he asserted that his administration is trying to do everything we can to protect our homeland. But the fact of the matter is that the agency with primary responsibility for seeing to port security, the Coast Guard, requested $1.5 billion specifically for ensuring port security for 2005. The Bush has proposed giving them $46 million for 2005 instead.

Jim Litke, AP sports columnist, pens what is hands-down the best report on Armstrong's record-setting 6th Tour de France win that I've read... and I've read a few.

Some fans will say all he does is ride a bike

Those of you who don't read the New York Times ought to take a gander at today's issue. Robert Pear has a piece on how the Bush Administration has been going to court to block lawsuits by patients injured by prescription drugs and medical devices. The administration contends that consumers can't recover damages for products which have been approved by the FDA. Both the Justice Department and the FDA have taken active roles in trying to block consumers from access to the courts. Interestingly enough... the FDA's Chief Counsel, Daniel E. Troy, counted the pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, among his clients when he was in private practice.

Noteworthy here is the fact that this new interpretation of the government's role is tacitly anti-state's rights. Forget how it'll play in Peoria... How will it play in Richmond or Atlanta where state's rights is an article of faith?

Those wishing that politics would return to a kinder, gentler time are wishing for something that never was. Above is a campaign flyer from the 1928 Presidential race between the eventual winner Hoover and New York Governer Smith. Students of American presidential politics will remember the absolutely viscious (and largely untrue) attacks between Adams and Jefferson. Or the incredible mud-slinging that Lincoln endured.

Thanks (via Rick Heller at Centerfield) to Josh Claybourn for finding and posting the flyer.