Ohio State GOP Vice Chairman Kevin DeWine: He Has Personal Knowledge Of "Thin' Military Records

DAYTON (TDB) -- The No. 2 official and chief fundraiser for the Ohio Republican Party has not spent a single day in military service, according to his biographies. Yet deputy GOP chairman Kevin DeWine audaciously is attacking Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's "thin record (that doesn't contain a single day of military duty)." DeWine is a state representative whose district includes communities near one of the nation's largest military installations -- Wright Patterson Air Force Base. There must be an armed forces enlistment office in that neighborhood. With wars and troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, DeWine doesn't seem to have taken any time to drop by and sign up for a hitch in uniform, thus enriching his own "thin record."

This bare spot in DeWine's resume is being exposed because he is behind a GOP fundraising letter that says the Obama campaign has been "outrageous and offensive." The sin: Gen. Wesley Clark said Sen. John McCain's service as a Naval Aviator and Vietnam POW does not mean McCain is qualified to be president. Clark did say McCain was a hero, which DeWine failed to note. Here's the text of DeWine's letter:

"Outrageous and offensive.
There’s just no other way to describe the gutter campaign tactic the Obama campaign pulled Sunday.
'I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be President.' That’s what Obama spokesman Gen. Wesley Clark said Sunday on national television.
Sadly, it’s not the first time the Democrats have tried to smear John McCain’s war record, and it won’t be the last.
Will you contribute $100, $250, or $500 today to help us push back?
We’re building an Ohio defense fund to counter these insidious attacks by Sen. Obama and his supporters.
John McCain spent five years being tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. His heroic service to our nation stands in stark contrast to Sen. Obama’s thin record (that doesn’t contain a single day of military duty).
Please help us fight back.
Your contribution of $100, $250, or $500 will help us build a defense fund here in Ohio so we can counter these slash and burn tactics by a candidate who promised a “new” kind of politics but delivers more of the same.
Kevin DeWine
Deputy Chairman"

There is a fabrication in that letter, too. Gen. Clark is not an "Obama spokesman." Clark is a Democrat who supported Hillary Clinton. He endorsed Obama when Clinton ended her campaign. (H/T to BloggerInterrupted for the text of DeWine's letter.)