As the Trump presidential campaign team struggle to contain the groundswell of support for Kamala Harris (in August 2024) they are upping their smear campaign tactics. They are now using “swiftboating” a tactic of unfairly attacking or smearing a candidate with half-truths. They are going after the Democratic vice-presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz’s military record.
Trump’s vice-presidential candidate, Sen. JD Vance, a Marine veteran, has accused Walz of lying about his military record. Walz served for 24 years in the Minnesota National Guard. However, Vance has criticised him for suggesting he carried a weapon in war, of abandoning his unit before it deployed to Iraq and of when he retired from service.
Walz has probably exaggerated his “carried a weapon in war” claim. He was never deployed in a war zone (the Democrats have said he “misspoke”). He left the National Guard to pursue his political career ten months before his unit was deployed to Iraq in 2006.
The beginnings of this campaign to discredit Walz have been compared to the successful swiftboating campaign that sunk John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004.
The swiftboating of John Kerry
Kerry received multiple medals, three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star, as a commander of a swift boat during the Vietnam War. His war service was a major cornerstone of his presidential campaign in 2004 at a time when the US was at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Kerry’s campaign was caught by surprise by attacks on his war record.
The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
An outside political group, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT), led the campaign to discredit Kerry. Made up of naval swift boat veterans, they spoke against his military record, although most had not served directly on Kerry’s boats. Kerry may have exaggerated his service to kick start his political career which did not endear him to his swift boat comrades.
With a budget of $22.4 million, the SBVT ran a damming television campaign. Their commercials questioned Kerry’s leadership, heroism, fitness for leadership, and involvement with anti-war protests. The SBVT campaign contributed to his failure to win the presidency against George W Bush and created a new word, swiftboating.
What is a swift boat?
A Patrol Craft Fast (PCF) also known as a swift boat were all-aluminium, 15 m long, shallow-draft vessels operated by the US Navy in the Vietnam War. They were used to patrol coastal areas and interior waterways such as the Mekong Delta. Their missions included intercepting Vietcong arms movements; transporting South Vietnamese forces; and inserting counterinsurgents.
Will the swiftboating work against Walz?
The Democrats are concerned about these swiftboating attacks on Walz’s integrity. However, they have the experience gained from the attacks on Kerry and a much bigger budget then he had. There is also a risk of the swiftboating backfiring for the Republicans as Trump avoided military service claiming he suffered from bone spurs.
More to look forward to in the war of words of the US election campaign.