Brain Fertilizer

Absolutely free of charge, I offer some unsolicited advice to the Kerry campaign.

It could also double as a warning for future campaigns for both parties at all levels, I guess.

Service in the military can never, by itself, act as a qualifier for political office. The candidate can attempt to cite specific experiences upon which they will draw that may make them the better official, perhaps, but that is it.

Military service is best used only defensively, as in, "Yes, I voted against those spending proposals for military equipment because my experiences as a fighting man led me to believe that expensive arms programs are fraught with failures, like the M-16s jamming in Viet Nam. Rather, I always preferred to depend on the excellence of American fighting spirit and ingenuity using existing weapons platforms." Or even, "My experiences as a fighting sailor in Viet Nam have convinced me that some issues do not necessarily have a military solution. We won every major battle in Viet Nam but could not win the war because of political decisions and the North Viet Nam will to continue fighting. We face just such an enemy in the Islamic Extremists. George Bush tied his generals' hands with political decisions. For that reason, he should be replaced as Commander-in-Chief!"

Please note, I don't agree with those assertions, but those are the proper uses of his military past. It opens you up to debate on the issue, sure, but at least you can debate the issue, and even if the discussion still results in disagreement you can still win respect for your passion and logic, if not your conclusions.

But John F. Kerry tried to insist, for the first time in decades, that military service should be a prerequisite for being President. He hinged nearly his entire election campaign on the idea that one can approach a Presidency with a flowchart of qualifications with "Active Military Combat Service" at the very top, with "No" meaning an automatic disqualification.

This wouldn't have worked very well if both candidates were running for the first time (like Gore vs. Bush), but it could not do anything but fail against an incumbent.

Note to you political types: Don't ever do it again, okay?