Authenticity of Bush National Guard memos put under the spotlight

By RUPERT CORNWELL in Washington

America's presidential campaign has moved from the furious to the near farcical, amid a "dirty tricks" controversy over the authenticity of 30-year-old documents dealing with George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard.

A CBS news report last week featured previously unpublished memos purporting to be from Bush's commander of the day, suggesting the well-connected future president received special treatment in gaining a slot in the guard in 1968 to avoid being sent to Vietnam, and benefited from political pressure to have his assessments presented favourably.

But within 24 hours the documents were being challenged - raising suspicions that CBS had fallen victim to a hoax by Bush supporters to discredit critics of the President's military record.

Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Killian, the squadron commander in question, is now dead. But his widow and daughter said he would never have committed such observations to paper. And arguments rage over whether 1970s typewriters could have produced the typography in the memos.

The Dallas Morning News muddied the waters further, claiming that another officer, said in an August 1973 memo to have asked for Bush's evaluation to be "sugarcoated", had in fact left the military in March 1972.

Over the weekend CBS insisted that it had carried out the most thorough checks. "Until someone shows me definitive proof that they are not [authentic], I don't see any reason to carry on a conversation with the professional rumour mill," presenter Dan Rather declared.

In fact, the controversy is beside the point. Poll after poll has shown that voters are concerned about terrorism, war in Iraq and the economy, rather than events of 35 years ago. John Kerry's highlighting of his 1969 heroics in Vietnam has, if anything, backfired, provoking a highly effective campaign of TV ads by pro-Bush veterans, accusing him of lying over how he obtained some of his medals.

Nor has the rumpus had much impact on the wider campaign. According to a new Associated Press poll yesterday, the President holds a 51-46 lead over Kerry among likely voters, and is pulling ahead in key swing states, notably Ohio and Missouri.

Bush holds a wide advantage over Kerry on who can best protect the country from terrorism. He has also pulled ahead on the two important "character" ratings of trustworthiness and likeability.

In most recent elections, the most "likeable" candidate has won. The folksy, grammar-mangling Bush easily outscores his somewhat stiff Democratic challenger.

- INDEPENDENT