GOP attacks on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s (D) military record are drawing parallels to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign against then-Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in his 2004 bid for president, but political strategists say they’re unlikely to stick this time around, thanks to a far different media landscape and Walz's 24 years in uniform.
The Republican smear campaign — in which questions were raised over Kerry’s military awards as a swift boat commander during the Vietnam War — are akin to those made since Vice President Harris announced Walz as her running mate for the White House.
Walz’s detractors have attempted to pick apart his time in the Army National Guard over when he retired from service, his rank in retirement and imprecise language he used several years ago to describe how he carried a weapon in war.
“In 2004 when the Swift Boat ads were aired, it's important to remember the context,” said John Geer, a political scientist at Vanderbilt University. “Political ads for a period of time — it's no longer true because you've got Twitter, Truth Social, etc. — political ads drove the narrative in a lot of different ways campaigns were covered.”
Kerry — who had made his military record a big talking point at the Democratic National Convention, even starting his nomination speech by saying he was “reporting for duty” — was inundated with Republican television ads sowing doubts about whether the presidential candidate had earned his three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star during the Vietnam War.
“The Republicans filled the narrative, and then the news media carried it to a new level because Kerry wasn't........