Democratic campaign lore holds that John Kerry lost his 2004 bid because he failed to refute decisively the charges launched by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

* Democratic campaign lore holds that John Kerry lost his 2004 bid because he failed to refute decisively the charges launched by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The conviction that the Vietnam veteran was the victim of outrageous smears has introduced a new verb and adjective into the political lexicon. In warning that he will be attacked unfairly, Ohio's Democratic gubernatorial candidate declares, "They're going to try to 'swift boat' Ted Strickland." In a fundraising letter, Sen. Hillary Clinton accuses Republicans of using "their 'swift boat' tactics," and John Kerry is alarmed about "swift boat-style attacks against Democratic candidates." With a group of Kerry supporters reportedly now compiling a dossier they claim will expose the swift-boat veterans as liars, it will be "Christmas in Cambodia" again as the battle is rejoined. But the class of people in danger of being "swift boated" is pretty small. Don't slander tens of thousands of your fellow veterans by calling them war criminals, and you won't face their righteous anger.