WASHINGTON -- Vietnam veterans opposing John Kerry have scored a hit with a tough TV ad that claims he lied about his war record -- it makes swing voters think twice about backing Kerry, an independent study has found.
The ad planted doubts in the minds of 27 percent of independent voters who planned to vote for Kerry or leaned pro-Kerry. After seeing it, they were no longer sure they'd back him, the study found.
At issue is the ad run by an independently funded group known as Swift Veterans for Truth, which features 14 veterans who served in Vietnam along with Kerry as they accuse him of lying about his war record.
"The whole goal of a negative ad is to plant a seed of doubt -- and it did," said Professor Chris Borrick of Muhlenberg College, who did the ad study with the firm HCD Research.
Of course, Kerry could alleviate alot of those doubts by actually addressing this issue with the truth and putting it to bed.
That's assuming, of course, that the claims made by the Swiftboat Vets aren't the truth.