The White House has swung into campaign mode to defend US President George W. Bush's record in the Texas Air National Guard far from the battlefields of Vietnam after Democrats accused him of going "AWOL".
White House spokesman Scott McClellan yesterday denied Democratic charges that Bush shirked his military duties in the early 1970s.
McClellan called the accusations "shameful" and the "worst of election-year politics." Bush "fulfilled his duties" in the National Guard and was honourably discharged. "The president was proud of his service," McClellan added.
The counter-attack came as voters voted in seven states on the biggest day yet of a Democratic presidential race so far dominated by Kerry.
Analysts said the unusually blunt response underscored White House concerns that military service could become a campaign issue.
Bush stayed out of combat in Vietnam while serving as a pilot in the Air National Guard.
Democrats have long challenged Bush's record of attendance in the guard in 1972 when he transferred temporarily to an Alabama unit to work on a political campaign.
According to a copy of the National Guard document granting him an "honourable" discharge on October 1, 1973, Bush completed five years and four months of service - less than the obligatory six years - before entering Harvard Business School.