GOP candidate Linda McMahon needles Senate rival on Vietnam statements

Linda McMahon, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut, is airing a new TV ad that strikes at Democratic opponent Richard Blumenthal for misstatements about his military service.

The 30-second spot, which is to begin airing just hours before Monday night’s debate between the two candidates, contains a new snippet of footage of Blumenthal talking about his military service at an event in Bridgeport in April 2003.

“When we returned, we sought nothing of this gratitude,” he states. Blumenthal, a Marine reservist, served stateside, not in Vietnam.

“If he lied about Vietnam, what else is he lying about?” the narrator in the ad intones.

The matter of Blumenthal’s military record became a campaign issue back in May, after the New York Times uncovered a video of him speaking at an event in Norwalk. (The McMahon campaign later took credit for feeding the explosive scoop to the newspaper.) “We have learned something important since the days I served in Vietnam,” Blumenthal told the Norwalk audience.

Blumenthal said he “misspoke” and issued an e-mail apology a few days later. But the issue continues to haunt him -- McMahon has hammered him on it in mailers, press releases and, now, in this new ad: “What else?”