Kerry's Records

Something doesn't strike me right about the military records that were released by John Kerry yesterday. Sure, they showed that he had miserable grades, but as vain as Kerry is, surely someone in his campaign would have convinced him that the opportunity to anwer any of the questions about his wartime service was more important than maintaining his reputation as a "thoughtful intellectual."

Why? Because the people in his campaign had to know that much of Kerry's support wasn't really pro-Kerry (which might have made maintaining his "intellectual" image important) as much as it was anti-Bush. Given that fact, the primary focus had to be alleviating voters' concerns about Kerry (hence militating for the release of the supposedly "clean" records), rather than burnishing his personal image.

And big as his ego is, a man who is as evidently desperate to be President as Kerry is (he's willing to put up with Teresa, after all) isn't about to see that chance diminish simply because of some bad grades in college.

Powerline has a correspondent who suggests that through bureaucratic sleight of hand games, the released files could be less than comprehensive. This would square with the account in the 11/1 New York Sun, quoted in The American Spectator, of a Harvard Law School admissions committee member who "recalled that the real reason Mr. Kerry was not admitted was because the committee was concerned that because Mr. Kerry had received a less than honorable discharge they were not sure he could be admitted to any state bar."

Hmmm.