But the agent walked away from Cleland's wheelchair. Cleland then offered the letter to a Texas state trooper, who declined it.
"I'd be happy to take the letter," Patterson repeated.
Cleland ignored him. "Did I see correctly that the Secret Service gentleman evaded and avoided me here?"
"Nobody's avoiding you, sir," Patterson said calmly. "I'm here to take the letter."
This was not good enough for Cleland. "I'm just going to return the letter and make sure it gets in the mail," he said, and he hopped from his wheelchair to his car, which drove away.
"I can get the letter from you up there in Crawford," Patterson called after the car.
Patterson then announced to the journalists that he had a letter for Cleland to deliver to Kerry. An aide to Cleland said she would give him Patterson's letter. "Can you hand over the letter?" she asked.
Patterson refused. "I want to give it to the senator." With that, Patterson, too, departed.
A few minutes later, the two men arrived at the nearby public school, where the cameras were waiting. "We're having to go through Vietnam again," Cleland lamented, though he seemed to be enjoying the combat. "Stop this insanity!" With Patterson in pursuit, Cleland wheeled back to his car and escaped without handing over the letter.
"He's quite mobile in that thing," Patterson marveled.
The Democratic entourage left copies of Cleland's undelivered letter calling on Bush to "specifically condemn the recent attack ads" and to "cease and desist."
Asked about the anti-Kerry veterans group, Patterson said, "The Swift boat folks have a right to their piece," adding that he had seen the group's ad criticizing Kerry's antiwar efforts. "It's a very telling ad," he said. The Bush veteran distributed copies of the undelivered letter to Kerry, which Patterson said had been written by the Bush campaign.
Kerry cannot "say that only those veterans who agree with you have a right to speak up," it said. "We urge you to condemn the double standard that you and your campaign have enforced regarding a veteran's right to openly express their feelings about your activities on return from Vietnam."
-- Dana Milbank
