by
Mike Glover on 17 August 2004 in the Associated Press
Sen. Tom Harkin
pushed the name-calling in the presidential race to a new level,
calling Vice President Dick Cheney a coward for not serving in
Vietnam and cowardly for his criticism of John Kerry.
Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, recently said that
if elected he would pursue a more effective and "more sensitive
war on terror that reaches out to other nations and brings them
to our side and lives up to American values in history."
Cheney, in campaign speeches, has been mocking that reference
to sensitivity.
Harkin, D-Iowa and a former Navy fighter pilot, said Monday, "It
just outrages me that someone who got five deferments during Vietnam
and said he had 'other priorities' at that time would say that."
He said President Bush and Cheney are "running scared
because John Kerry has a war record and they don't." He said
of Cheney, "What he is doing and what he is saying is cowardly.
The actions are cowardly."
"When I hear this coming from Dick Cheney, who was a coward,
who would not serve during the Vietnam War, it makes my blood
boil," said Harkin. "He'll be tough, but he'll be tough
with someone else's kid's blood."
Republican National Committee spokesman David James dismissed
the criticism as shrill and negative.
The Democrats, during their recent national convention, made much
of Kerry's service and battle awards in Vietnam. Cheney received
five student and marriage deferments of military service. Bush
served in the Texas Air National Guard. |
