POLITICAL CLOUT Veterans being courted for votes

The VFW does not endorse candidates.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Veterans have an opportunity to gain more political clout this year and maybe more funding for health-care programs, the commander of the Ohio unit of Veterans of Foreign Wars said Monday.
"I think veterans are out and will vote very heavily this year," said Keith Harman, of Delphos.
President Bush courted the VFW at its national convention Monday. Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the convention Monday night, followed by Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi today and Democratic candidate John Kerry on Wednesday.
The VFW, with some 1.8 million members, could help swing the election, especially in battleground states such as Ohio, analysts said.
"Veterans are always a key group and they do get attention every four years. But they're getting more attention than ever this year because John Kerry has chosen to make the central appeal of his candidacy the fact that he served in Vietnam," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. "Whether that's sufficient [to get elected], we'll have to wait and see."
VFW spokesman Jerry Newberry said the organization does not endorse candidates because it must work with whatever administration is in place.
Harman said the VFW is most concerned with veterans benefits and entitlements and hoped the candidates would commit to mandatory funding of the VA's health care system.
Group seems divided
He said he did not know which candidate the majority of members would support.
"I think they're still pretty much divided," Harman said.
Bush used the VFW convention as a forum to announce a realignment of thousands of U.S. troops that will relocate from European posts back to the United States and touted his administration's record in increasing funding for veterans' health care, new clinics and modernized Veterans Administration hospitals.
"Serving veterans is one of the highest priorities of my administration," Bush said. "We're getting the job done."
About 15,000 veterans, VFW auxiliary and family members are attending the convention. Bush's speech was generally well received, but there were those who were not enthusiastic.
"We're probably like the general public, fairly well split," said David Kolbe, a Vietnam veteran from Columbus.
Kolbe said he is a Kerry supporter and disagrees with the president's Iraq policy.
"My granddaughter was born three days before the Sept. 11th attacks, and she's going to have to pay for this war," Kolbe said.
'Open mind'
Marvin Floyd of Manchester said he liked what he heard from Bush, but he also wants to hear from Kerry.
"I came in with an open mind. I still feel about the same," Floyd said. "We got a long way to go yet. And we've got his opponent coming into speak to us, and I'll listen to him."
About a half-dozen Kerry supporters held placards on the street corner outside the convention center, challenging Bush to prove that he fulfilled his Texas Air National Guard commitment during the Vietnam War.
About a dozen Bush supporters stood with their signs across the street, some deriding Kerry's anti-war activism after serving with the U.S. Navy in Vietnam.
Sabato said that could hurt Kerry among veterans.
"They are not in Kerry's camp, despite what he says," Sabato said. "They are very much upset by his anti-war activities after he returned to Vietnam. Some of them still hold that against him."