Kerry & the SwiftVets: the Polling

The dog that didn't bark from the recent CNN/USA-Today poll:

At the same time, the poll found that most people, 63%, think Kerry is definitely or probably telling the truth about his military service.

"definitely or probably"? Isn't it a problem for the Kerry campaign that 30% of people polled think he's probably or definitely lying about his Viet Nam experience? (Seven percent had no opinion. Click here for the complete set of polling data. Scroll down to question 32.) Also, his poll numbers are pretty soft on this issue: only 17% "definitely" think he's telling the truth. There's a lot of room to move on this issue. I wonder if NZBear wasn't right: SwiftVets may turn out to be the beginning of the end for Kerry. Remember: even Dukakis was polling better than Kerry at this point.

Also, you may want to scroll up to question 30, in which respondents were asked whether Kerry's Viet Nam service made them more or less likely to vote for the Democratic nominee this fall. What's so interesting? Check out the registered voters: as many (21%) are less likely to vote for Kerry because of his military service as are more likely. Makes one wonder if putting Viet Nam at the center of his campaign was that good of an idea.