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McCain parachutes in to help fellow Vietnam vet
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South Bay Rep. Steve Kuykendall and fellow Vietnam veterans Arizona Senator John McCain and former Manhattan Beach councilman Bob Holmes recount their wartime experiences during a Kuykendall campaign fundraiser in June at the Torrance Marriott. Photo by Kevin Cody |
by Kevin Cody
"Before breakfast, he reprimanded me for not coming to rescue him," 36th District Rep. Steve Kuykendall quipped during his introduction of Arizona Senator John McCain. Kuykendall himself was turning to the former POW and former presidential candidate to rescue his congressional campaign from Democrat Jane Harman.
Kuykendall was a Marine Corps captain in Vietnam when McCain was a POW.
"It didn't take a lot of talent to get shot down. I intercepted a SAM (surface-to-air missile) with my jet," McCain said to approximately 70 Kuykendall supporters who paid $1,000 to attend the Torrance Marriott breakfast last month.
Asked what he could do for Kuykendall, the self-effacing McCain answered, "Not much."
But as a grateful Kuykendall made clear, "not much" could mean a lot in the closely watched, closely matched 36th congressional race.
The Democrats need to pick up just six congressional seats in November's election to gain control of the House. Harman came within 2,500 votes, or 2 percentage points district-wide of out-polling Kuykendall in the March primary. In the three Beach cities Harman beat Kuykendall by a margin of just over 500 votes from among the Beach cities' 22,690 votes. Harman represented the district for three terms before relinquishing her seat to Kuykendall in an unsuccessful bid for the 1996 Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
Key to Kuykendall's hope to defeat Harman lies in the fact that if Beach city voters had had their way in March, John McCain would be the Republican presidential candidate. McCain collected 8,946 votes locally, more than either Bush or Gore. And he collected 20 percent of the popular vote statewide.
That 20 percent, as much as the estimated $70,000 the breakfast raised, is what Kuykendall hopes McCain will bring to his campaign.
McCain promised to return to the district and "walk precincts if that's what it takes."
During a question period, the father of a Manhattan Beach Middle School student complained that his son's sixth grade teacher frequently ignores the state law that requires school days to begin with the Pledge of Allegiance.
"Is this an important enough issue for you to raise in the campaign?" the parent asked.
With the candor that characterized his presidential campaign, McCain told the parent no.
"A fellow POW sewed an American flag inside his shirt and paid the price," McCain said, indicating his deep respect for the flag. "But if parents would insist that the law be carried out, and were more involved with their schools, this would not be a problem.
McCain repeated what Arizona's state superintendent of schools told him what she tells parents who complain about the schools. "She asks them when was the last time they visited their children's school. Go visit the school, then come back to me."
In conclusion, McCain said, "The good news is we have the money to fund Steve's campaign. The bad news is the money is still in your wallets, and purses." ER