John Kerry--In the LA Times

At the Democratic Party fundraiser in Philadelphia, the Massachusetts senator responded to former GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole's statement that Kerry was only in Vietnam for four months."I was there for longer than that, No. 1," said Kerry, who did not mention Dole by name. "No. 2, I served for two tours. No. 3, they thought enough of my service to make me aide to an admiral."

Kerry called his protests against the war "an act of conscience.""You can judge my character, incidentally, by that," he said. "Because when the times of moral crisis existed in this country, I wasn't taking care of myself, I was taking care of public policy. I was taking care of things that made a difference to the life of this nation. You may not have agreed with me, but I stood up and was counted. And that's the kind of president I'm going to be."