August 5, 2004
Pretty low.
In fact, there is no low that some Bush supporters will not stoop to in their attempt to smear John Kerry.
Right now some Republican Vietnam Vets are trying to besmirch Kerry's military record in a new ad.
It's a daunting task, to be sure.
As Al Hunt points out in The Wall Street Journal, here's a guy who came from a privileged background and could have gotten out of the Vietnam War like most other young men similarly situated.
Instead, he volunteered for some of the most dangerous duty in Vietnam.
He was awarded not one, not two, but three Purple Hearts, the Bronze Star, and the Silver Star.
As Bill Clinton joked at the Democratic Convention, what are these critics saying? That he deserved only two-and-a-half Purple Hearts, not three?
Though the men Kerry commanded swear high and low about his courage and leadership, these Republican vets are running an ad that says Kerry "betrayed the men he served with."
Financing the ad is none other than a Houston developer and major Republican contributor named Bob Perry, who coughed up a hundred grand, The New York Times reports.
In the annals of campaign sleaze, this ranks high.
Republican John McCain, who himself was slimed by the Republican sleaze machine, called the ad "dishonest and dishonorable."
I can think of no two more appropriate adjectives to describe the policies of the entire Bush Administration.