Kerry Takes $1M Swift Boat Challenge

Senator vows to face Texas billionaire and blast allegations
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 16, 2007 6:53 PM CST
Kerry Takes $1M Swift Boat Challenge
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., hugs his Vietnam swiftboat crewmate, the Rev. David Alston, while surrounded by other Vietnam War crewmates who greeted him upon his arrival in Boston in this July 28, 2004 file photo. Kerry, whose 2004 presidential campaign was torpedoed by...   (Associated Press)

John Kerry accepted a $1 million challenge today to back his military record against claims by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the AP reports. The former Dem nom answered an open challenge by oilman T. Boone Pickens, a key funder of the group that claimed Kerry fudged his military resume. Pickens vowed to pay a cool mil to anyone who refutes a single Swiftie claim.

But Kerry pledges to slam “allegation after allegation” in an open forum—the very kind of stand he dodged in 2004. He later conceded that his choice likely cost him the vote. Kerry has offered to face Pickens in Massachusetts or Texas and donate any winnings to paralyzed veterans. A Pickens spokesman said he is reviewing Kerry’s offer. (More John Kerry stories.)

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