(2004-09-18) — Democrat presidential candidate John Forbes Kerry took a commanding lead in the polls today thanks to a report by the Navy’s chief investigator verifying that the paperwork was filed correctly for Mr. Kerry’s Vietnam-era combat awards.
The Navy’s verdict, which the candidate called “my September surprise,” has suddenly shifted the spotlight to make Mr. Kerry’s wartime service the central issue of his battle for the White House against a former National Guardsman.
The Kerry campaign’s internal polling shows that the Democrat now leads President George Bush 63-to-12 among “Americans who are aware that a presidential election is coming up sometime soon.”
The other 25 percent remain undecided, which according to Democrat strategists is “tantamount to a vote for Kerry.”
“We’ve got the momentum now,” said Mr. Kerry. “Until this week, it’s been a policy wonk’s race. The American public has been barraged with detailed information about how my policy proposals stack up against those of this administration. From now on this fight is about leadership-about which young military man was most qualified to someday become president.”
When asked what he thought about the Navy’s authentication of the Kerry war medal paperwork, President Bush said, “Our long national nightmare is over. Next question.”
