Dem Senate Candidate Lied About Vietnam Service

Well, this might put a damper on his Senate election plans:

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.

The deferments allowed Mr. Blumenthal to complete his studies at Harvard; pursue a graduate fellowship in England; serve as a special assistant to The Washington Post’s publisher, Katharine Graham; and ultimately take a job in the Nixon White House.

In 1970, with his last deferment in jeopardy, he landed a coveted spot in the Marine Reserve, which virtually guaranteed that he would not be sent to Vietnam. He joined a unit in Washington that conducted drills and other exercises and focused on local projects, like fixing a campground and organizing a Toys for Tots drive.

Hey, it's dangerous working with all those toys. You might get an ow-ee.

Lucky for Blumenthal that he's from the state which has repeatedly elected Chris Dodd, so the likelihood is he'll survive this.  The voters of Connecticut are not very discriminating.

Apparently Blumenthal is planning a damage control press conference "flanked by veterans" on Tuesday.  Classic case of being in a hole and still digging.  Others are also predicting that there will be many and frequent uses of the term "swiftboating", even though it doesn't apply in this case.  This will backfire...big time.

UPDATE from Hot Air:

Update: It gets worse for Blumenthal. Meet his likely Republican challenger, Rob Simmons:

Rob’s public service career began when he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1965 as a Private, and spent 19 months in Vietnam where he earned two Bronze Star Medals. Rob continued his military service in the U.S. Army Reserve as a Military Intelligence Officer, retiring as a Colonel in 2003 with over 37 years of active and reserve service.