Bush TV Spot Takes Aim at Clinton’s Draft Record

A new Bush campaign ad argues that Democratic nominee Bill Clinton does not deserve voters’ trust because he has offered differing accounts of his experience with the draft in 1968 and 1969.

Text: The ad begins with a close-up of Clinton’s face from a Time magazine cover earlier this year. “He said he was never drafted,” a narrator begins. “Then he admitted he was drafted.” The camera slowly pulls back to show more of the magazine cover. “Then he said he forgot being drafted,” the narrator continues. “He said he was never deferred from the draft. Then, he said he was. He said he never received special treatment. But he did receive special treatment.” Finally the entire magazine cover is visible: The headline on it reads, “Why Voters Don’t Trust Clinton.” And Time pictured Clinton’s face as a photographic negative, giving him an ominous quality. “The question then was avoiding the draft,” the narrator concludes. “Now, for Bill Clinton, it’s a question of avoiding the truth.”

Analysis: Clinton has given incomplete and sometimes differing accounts of how and why he avoided being drafted in 1969. At one point he said he withdrew from the ROTC and re-entered the draft because friends of his had died. Yet a letter unearthed from the period explained that he withdrew from ROTC because he opposed the war. Clinton received a draft induction letter that was later waived after he appealed directly to draft board officials. Clinton never mentioned the induction letter until the press unearthed it, and then was fuzzy about how the induction notice was waived. On the question of deferments, however, the ad leaves a misimpression: Clinton never denied that he had a draft deferment. On the question of special treatment, Clinton did try to suggest that he never received special treatment or mounted any special campaign to avoid the draft, when both things were true. By using the Time cover, the ad implies that the magazine is the source of the allegations, but Time has asked that the cover image be removed from the ad. The Bush campaign has declined to do so.