Ronald Reagan

Top Moments In Politicians Lying About Military Service

Brian Beutler | May 31, 2010, 2:21PM

Richard Blumenthal, Mark Kirk, Hillary Clinton, Ronald Reagan

Senate hopefuls Mark Kirk (R) and Dick Blumenthal (D) will likely be dogged from now until November by accusations that they embellished their military backgrounds. But as galling as their transgressions may be, they're part of a rich, scandalous tradition of American pols exaggerating--or simply lying about--their service records in front of the right crowds, when they think they can get away with it.

Herewith, our favorite examples of politicians getting caught red handed fibbing about their war records.

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Mark Kirk

IL GOPer Kirk Admits Claim On Military Award 'Was Not Precise'

Ben Frumin | May 31, 2010, 9:33AM

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL)

Richard Blumenthal's not the only one...

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) -- the Republican nominee for President Obama's old Senate seat -- acknowledged over the weekend that an earlier claim about his military record wasn't entirely accurate.

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CT-SEN

Poll: Blumenthal Still Way Ahead Of McMahon

Eric Kleefeld | May 28, 2010, 11:50AM

CT-SEN candidates Richard Blumenthal (D) and Linda McMahon (R)

The new Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll of Connecticut finds that Democratic state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal continues to have a huge lead over Republican former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon -- giving further corroboration that Blumenthal is not being immediately damaged by the the controversy surrounding his past misleading statements about serving in Vietnam.

The numbers: Blumenthal 52%, McMahon 33%. The survey of likely voters has a ±4% margin of error. This is similar to the new Quinnipiac poll, which had Blumenthal ahead by 56%-31%. The previous R2K poll of this race, from way back in January, had Blumenthal leading McMahon by 54%-35%. The TPM Poll Average has Blumenthal ahead by 52.2%-37.7%.

Interestingly, the poll was conducted before former Rep. Rob Simmons dropped out of the Republican primary -- and it shows him just barely trailing McMahon by a 48%-44% margin, with a ±5% margin of error. While it might appear that Simmons could have potentially won his primary, on the other hand he might have been at a serious disadvantage as time went on, in a primary race where McMahon had a superior financial advantage and the official endorsement of the state party.

CT-SEN

Q Poll: Blumenthal Still Dominates McMahon Post-NYT

Evan McMorris-Santoro | May 27, 2010, 8:58AM

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal

The story that the campaign of Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D) has been telling got some independent corroboration this morning -- a new poll from Quinnipiac University shows Blumenthal is still dominating the race for Senate in the wake of a brutal New York Times story that accused him of lying about his military record.

The poll, one of the most respected in Connecticut politics, shows Blumenthal ahead of likely Republican nominee Linda McMahon by a whopping 25 points. He leads the race by a margin of 56-31. That's down somewhat from the astronomical 61-28 lead Blumenthal had in the March Q poll, but -- as they say in the business -- anything over 20 is a good day.

Especially the wake of the Times revelations, which some observers predicted might destroy Blumenthal's squeaky-clean image in Connecticut and knock him into a tough race to replace retiring Sen. Chris Dodd (D). But the Q poll suggests that hasn't happened. Blumenthal's job approval ratings remain high, according to the pollster, even among Republicans.

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CT-SEN

Biden Jokes: 'I Didn't Serve In Vietnam. I Don't Want To Make a Blumenthal Mistake Here'

Eric Kleefeld | May 26, 2010, 11:52AM

Vice President Biden

Vice President Joe Biden has done it again -- this time making fun of Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the Democratic candidate for Senate, for his misstatements about his military service.

At a Naval Observatory event for wounded warriors last night, Biden discussed his memories of troops who returned from the Vietnam War. "I didn't serve in Vietnam. I don't want to make a Blumenthal mistake here. Our attorney general from Connecticut, God love him," said Biden, according to the pool report filed by Stars and Stripes. Biden later added: "I have a bad habit of saying exactly what I think."

Make no mistake -- a vice president telling a joke at the expense of his own party's Senate candidate is a big f------ deal.

CT-SEN

Blumenthal Camp: Move Along, Nothing To See Here

Evan McMorris-Santoro | May 24, 2010, 6:42PM

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal

So much for the earth-shattering revelations about Connecticut Democratic senate nominee Richard Blumenthal's less-than-entirely-honest recollections of his Vietnam-era military service as a reservist Marine. According to his campaign, just about everyone in Connecticut has heard the story by now -- and few of them care.

Blumenthal pollster Al Quinlan presented internal polling to reporters this afternoon that he said showed Blumenthal has weathered the storm kicked up by last week's front page New York TImes story cataloging his history of "misstatements" about serving in Vietnam. The numbers he presented showed nearly everyone in Connecticut has heard of the scandal, but most of them still like Blumenthal a lot.

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CT-SEN

CT GOP Nominates McMahon Over Simmons

Rachel Slajda | May 24, 2010, 6:33PM

Former Rep. Rob Simmons (R-CT) and Republican CT Senate Candidate Linda McMahon.

Just days after Connecticut Republicans found their first opening against Democratic Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal, an admission that he had misrepresented his military record, they passed over their own Bronze Star-decorated veteran to nominate World Wrestling Executive Linda McMahon.

McMahon beat her Republican opponent, former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, for the party endorsement at its convention this weekend. Simmons, however, got enough votes to force a primary and vowed to do so.

Blumenthal last week admitted to sometimes misrepresenting his military service, going so far as to say he served in Vietnam. Although he served in the Marine Corps Reserves during the war, he was never deployed overseas.

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CT-SEN

GOP Candidate Simmons Seeks To Gain Off Blumenthal's Vietnam Scandal

Rachel Slajda | May 19, 2010, 11:22AM

CT-SEN candidate Rob Simmons (R)

Until Monday, Rob Simmons was, arguably, a long shot for Chris Dodd's Senate seat. The Republican was trailing wealthy executive Linda McMahon for the GOP nod, and was behind uber-popular Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D) by more than 20 points.

Then Blumenthal was outed for saying he had served in Vietnam when he never had.

Simmons, a Vietnam War veteran with two Bronze Stars, has gone full court press on the attorney general's scandal. He's running fund-raising ads, holdings press conferences and blasting out videos and press releases touting his own military service.

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CT-SEN

Poll: Blumenthal Nosedives In Wake Of NY Times Story

Evan McMorris-Santoro | May 19, 2010, 9:06AM

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).

Connecticut attorney general Dick Blumenthal (D) has seen his double-digit lead over former wrestling CEO Linda McMahon (R) collapse in the wake of the New York Times expose on his self-professed "misstatements" about his military record.

A new Rasmussen poll of the race, taken Tuesday night -- about 24 hours after the Times story broke -- shows Blumenthal ahead by a margin of 48-45. The last Rasmussen poll of that matchup, taken May 4, showed Blumenthal decimating McMahon by a margin of 52-39.

In the new poll, Blumenthal's lead over the other two Republicans in the primary race -- Rep. Rob Simmons and businessman Peter Schiff -- also took a dip in the wake of the story. The poll of 500 likely voters was taken on May 18 and has a margin of error of 4.5%.

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CT-SEN

Cornyn: Blumenthal's Vietnam Issue Is 'Quite A Blow To His Candidacy'

Ben Frumin | May 18, 2010, 12:43PM

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tx)

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told reporters earlier today that allegations that Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D) misrepresented his Vietnam record is "quite a blow" to his Senate candidacy and may help Republicans pick up the seat.

Blumenthal is running to replace retiring Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT).

"It sounds like quite a blow to his candidacy," Cornyn said. "Obviously he enjoys--has enjoyed--high approval ratings. He's relatively unknown in the political process. I would say, having been an attorney general myself, it is a transition to go from AG to a run for the United States Senate. But I'm anxious to hear what his explanation is because I heard him on YouTube and of course broadcast on television, claiming to have served in Vietnam, and if that proves not to he true, then I think he's got quite an apology to make."

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Richard Blumenthal

Dodd Defends Blumenthal, Calls Vietnam Row A 'Bump'

Brian Beutler | May 18, 2010, 10:39AM

CT Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D) and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT)

Top Democrats are defending Connecticut Attorney General, and Senate hopeful, Richard Blumenthal from charges that he lied about his military service during the Vietnam War. Retiring Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), who Blumenthal hopes to succeed, strongly reiterated his support for Blumenthal, telling me the new allegations change nothing.

"Dick Blumenthal and I have known each other for almost 40 years, and I've always known him to be the most honorable of people," Dodd said, just outside his office. "And nothing I read says anything differently about Dick Blumenthal. He's going to be a great United States Senator in my view. He's been a terrific Attorney General. So this is a bump but frankly I think that he's handled it well and as I said, I've known him to be nothing but the most honorable of human beings in public life."

But what if Republicans have the goods on Blumenthal? What if he can't adequately contextualize the story, which has onlookers left and right predicting his demise? Even then, Dodd says, Blumenthal should persevere.

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