The New York Times is reporting that Connecticut Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal, never served in the Vietnam War despite his claims that he did.
At a ceremony honoring veterans and senior citizens who sent presents to soldiers overseas, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut rose and spoke of an earlier time in his life.
“We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,” Mr. Blumenthal said to the group gathered in Norwalk in March 2008. “And you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it — Afghanistan or Iraq — we owe our military men and women unconditional support.”
There was one problem: Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat now running for the United States Senate, never served in Vietnam. He obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war, according to records.
Blumenthal is running for Chris Dodd’s Senate seat and, if true, these allegations could throw a wrench in those plans. Blumenthal is ahead in polls by more than 20 points of his two possible GOP challengers, Linda McMahon, the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment and wife of WWE’s owner and former Rep. Rob Simmons.
It seems Blumenthal has a history of unsubstantiated boasts. From farther down in the article:
On a less serious matter, another flattering but untrue description of Mr. Blumenthal’s history has appeared in profiles about him. In two largely favorable profiles, the Slate article and a magazine article in The Hartford Courant in 2004 with which he cooperated, Mr. Blumenthal is described prominently as having served as captain of the swim team at Harvard. Records at the college show that he was never on the team.
Mr. Blumenthal said he did not provide the information to reporters, was unsure how it got into circulation and was “astonished” when he saw it in print.
Blumenthal also told the Times that he was not certain whether he had seen the stories or whether any steps had been taken to point out the inaccuracies. I bet he’s worrying about those inaccuracies now. Connecticut Dems will have a lot to weigh before their convention this weekend. Wonder what Chris Dodd is doing this November?