Sunday, May 30, 2004 3:22 p.m. EDT
Poll Stunner: Veterans Deserting Kerry
A CBS News poll released this week showing Sen. John Kerry leading President Bush actually contained some devastating news for the Kerry campaign.
After months of touting his military record and his combat heroism, the Massachussetts Democrat is losing the veterans' vote to President Bush by a landslide.
Kerry has made his military service the centerpiece of his campaign, almost never appearing on the stump without his Vietnam "Band of Brothers" by his side.
What's more, Democratic Party surrogates have repeatedly blasted Bush for not serving in Vietnam - going so far as to label him AWOL - a charge the media was only too happy to focus on for weeks on end.
But the tactics haven't worked. Buried deep inside the internals of a CBS poll released Wednesday was this stunning statistic: Veterans now prefer Bush over Kerry by a whopping 13 points - 54 to 41 percent.
Worse still for Kerry, Bush's landslide among veterans comes from a sample that preferred Kerry overall by a full eight points.
Even the Democrat dream team presidential ticket of Kerry and John McCain doesn't steal the vet vote away from Bush, with the same CBS survey showing an even split should McCain defect.
Not surprisingly, coverage of the stunning poll result has been slim to none.
"It's buried in every poll that I've seen," Bush-Cheney spokesman Scott Stanzel told WABC Radio's Steve Malzberg on Sunday.
Stanzel said that Bush was meeting this weekend with "Rolling Thunder," a group of Vietnam veterans who motorcycle into Washington, D.C. every Memorial Day.
Bush will discuss "POW and MIA issues" with leaders of the group, he said, adding, "They are endorsing the president."
Editor's note:
Poll Stunner: Veterans Deserting Kerry
A CBS News poll released this week showing Sen. John Kerry leading President Bush actually contained some devastating news for the Kerry campaign.
After months of touting his military record and his combat heroism, the Massachussetts Democrat is losing the veterans' vote to President Bush by a landslide.
Kerry has made his military service the centerpiece of his campaign, almost never appearing on the stump without his Vietnam "Band of Brothers" by his side.
What's more, Democratic Party surrogates have repeatedly blasted Bush for not serving in Vietnam - going so far as to label him AWOL - a charge the media was only too happy to focus on for weeks on end.
But the tactics haven't worked. Buried deep inside the internals of a CBS poll released Wednesday was this stunning statistic: Veterans now prefer Bush over Kerry by a whopping 13 points - 54 to 41 percent.
Worse still for Kerry, Bush's landslide among veterans comes from a sample that preferred Kerry overall by a full eight points.
Even the Democrat dream team presidential ticket of Kerry and John McCain doesn't steal the vet vote away from Bush, with the same CBS survey showing an even split should McCain defect.
Not surprisingly, coverage of the stunning poll result has been slim to none.
"It's buried in every poll that I've seen," Bush-Cheney spokesman Scott Stanzel told WABC Radio's Steve Malzberg on Sunday.
Stanzel said that Bush was meeting this weekend with "Rolling Thunder," a group of Vietnam veterans who motorcycle into Washington, D.C. every Memorial Day.
Bush will discuss "POW and MIA issues" with leaders of the group, he said, adding, "They are endorsing the president."
Editor's note:
