Mr. "I had other priorities"

You would have thought that if the issue of who served under fire during the Vietnam War became a big deal at this point in the presidential campaign, it would be a major advantage to John Kerry. After all, there is no dispute that Kerry served in Vietnam's combat zones while both President Bush and Vice President Cheney avoided the war. Bush served stateside in the National Guard (it's still not clear how much of his duty time he missed) and Cheney avoided the military altogether. The hawkish veep has explained blithely, "I had other priorities in the '60s than military service." Republicans insisted that military service was an important criterion for leadership when Bill Clinton ran against the elder George Bush and former senator Bob Dole, war veterans both. But the Republican attack maestros were never as interested in service as they were in taking and holding power. So now it's Bush supporters, through a front group, attacking the war veteran -- much as they attacked Vietnam hero John McCain during the Republican primaries four years ago when McCain dared to challenge Bush. This episode is a great test of how politics work in our country. It is, first, a test of George W. Bush. [more ]

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