THE HILL

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2004

GOP TARGETS KERRY: 1972 ALL OVER AGAIN?

"Under the Dome" by Jeff Dufour and Albert Eisele

Now that he's the presumptive Democratic nominee, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is bracing himself from attacks by the GOP. But this is nothing new, according to Democratic strategist Bob Weiner.

In 1971-72, Weiner served at the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) offices in the Watergate complex as its first youth vote director. He recalls inviting Kerry, then national chairman of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, to give a speech in Rhode Island in support of youth voter registration.

Yet in 1973, Watergate burglary conspirator James McCord testified before the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities that the infamous break-in was necessary to prove DNC links to "violence groups." When pressed, McCord specifically cited Kerry's group.

Weiner, who served in the Clinton White House for six years and has held several positions for Hill Democrats, emphasized that the Rhode Island speech was "all we did with John Kerry" and his organization.

Weiner says he's reintroducing these facts as an "important part of history now and maybe one from which we can learn."

"The Republicans showed their hand as far back as 1972 in blasting John Kerry and his causes for being extremist when he in fact was helping our nation in the most patriotic ways, and that will once again be the Republican strategy in this presidential race," he said.