Melissa Bailey File Photo
Dick Blumenthal.
(First blush analysis; updated.) The words were all sober. No hint of gloating And yet there was no mistaking the glee in the press release Rob Simmons rushed out Monday night.
A New York Times expose had just hit the web. It alleges that Richard Blumenthal never served in the Vietnam War — yet repeatedly claimed he did, based largely on a video of a 2008 public appearance. (Read the article here.)
That’s bad news for Richard Blumenthal, the clear but repeatedly stumbling frontrunner in the race for Connecticut’s U.S. Senate seat. Not to mention an uncharacteristic misstep for one of the state’s most careful and popular politicians. (Blumenthal is organizing a rescue-mission press event with veterans at a West Hartford VFW at 2 p.m. Tuesday.)
That’s doubly good news for Rob Simmons.
Simmons wants to become Connecticut’s next U.S. senator, too. But two frontrunners have been in his way: Blumenthal, the likely Democratic nominee; and Linda McMahon, the self-financed multimillionaire battling with Simmons for the Republican nomination.
Not only does the revelation soften up Blumenthal (pictured in his Marine days).
But like Richard Blumenthal, Linda McMahon, while familiar with the pretend battles of the World Wrestling Entertainment ring, never served in Vietnam, either.
Rob Simmons did. In a big way. In a role that will never endear himself to liberals — he was a spy, a special operations specialist. But in a role he has openly championed to set himself apart from his opponents as the one candidate with a handle on how to deal with foreign policy challenges in the 21st century.
Click on the play arrows below as well on this story for a taste of Simmons’ campaign trail talk on the subject.
Simmons also won two Bronze Stars in Vietnam. He served 19 months.
Mere moments after the Times expose hit the web Monday night, the Simmons campaign issued a one-paragraph statement. It read:
“As someone who served, I respect Richard Blumenthal for wearing the uniform, but I am deeply troubled by allegations that he has misrepresented his service. Too many have sacrificed too much to have their valor stolen in this way. I hope Mr. Blumenthal steps forward and forthrightly addresses the questions that have arisen about this matter.”
Linda McMahon’s campaign rushed out an email message to the press, too. It reprinted the Times story in full. It added no other words of its own. It subsequently followed up with a release quoting a blog item crediting the McMahon campaign for digging up the video and providing it to the Times — portraying McMahon not as a soldier (in comparison to Blumenthal) but rather a candidate with “$16 million” to fund “a crack opposition research operation.” McMahon’s team portrayed this as a characterization to be proud of.
The Blumenthal campaign, meanwhile, swung back with an angry denial in a release Monday night and a promise of a press event Tuesday morning. The release read:
“The New York Times story is an outrageous distortion of Dick Blumenthal’s record of service. Unlike many of his peers, Dick Blumenthal voluntarily joined the Marine Corps Reserves in 1970 and served for six months in Parris Island, SC and six years in the reserves. He received no special treatment from anyone. Dick has a long record of standing up for veterans. Tomorrow, veterans will be standing up with Dick.”