"That's our goal," said John E. O'Neill, a Houston attorney who is one of the group's leaders and co-author of "Unfit for Command," a 251-page book being distributed by Regnery Publishing.

Rather than address the substance of the organization's charges, which are backed by 254 Swift Boat vets, many of whom served alongside Kerry in Vietnam, Kerry's campaign falls back on the hackneyed claim of a "vast right-wing conspiracy."

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is registered with the Federal Election Commission as a so-called 527 organization and is not affiliated with any party, Knght Ridder explained. It got off the ground with a $100,000 donation from Texas homebuilder Bob J. Perry, who happens to be a prominent Republican donor as well as a friend of O'Neill.

Retired admiral Roy F. Hoffman, chairman of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, told Knight Ridder that the first TV ad, which ran for one week in Ohio, Wisconsin and West Virginia at a cost of $550,000, got so much national news attention that it generated the additional $400,000.

"We are putting together the second ad," said Hoffman, 78, of Richmond, Va.

As a Navy captain in 1968 and 1969, Hoffman commanded a unit of 1,650 sailors that included Kerry as a lieutenant. He is among the entire chain of command questioning Kerry's claims about his Vietnam service. He said the unit, known as Task Force 115, included about 16 Swift Boats and their crews, which patrolled the Mekong Delta looking for Viet Cong and other enemy fighters.

"I knew Kerry pretty well," he added. "I did not ride his boat, but we operated very close together. ... I can't say I was a personal friend or buddy-buddy, but I sure knew him ... and I never felt he had the qualifications."

Media's Leftist Bias Backfires

Hoffman hasn't been politically involved since leaving the Navy in 1978, he said. Swift Boat Veterans for Truth accepted cash donations from Republicans after the major media ignored a news conference announcing the formation of the group in May, he said.

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