Reply #5: I agree [View All]

[Sparkly]

There seems to be a long-standing stereotype that Republicans are "tough," and Democrats are "soft." It shows up in polls all the time, no matter what the reality is. (Personally I think it's more a matter of incompetent/ineffective vs. smart/effective!)

So they attack any Democrats with strong military credentials. Remember Ann Coulter saying Max Cleland was simply "lucky" to pick up a grenade? Remember the smear that Clark didn't earn all of his stars, but was an "opportunist" who brown-nosed his way up (and *real* military men didn't like him)? Same thing with Kerry. Didn't really *earn* what he got, just happened to be in the right place (a swift boat - very dangerous duty!), and *real* military men don't like him....

How do we fight this when all the major news networks jump at the chance to get a microphone in front of clowns like John O'Neill?