The national fallout continued Thursday over Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's videotaped statement that he had served in Vietnam - when he has never fought overseas.
Ari Fleischer, who served as the chief spokesman for President George W. Bush, said on CNN that Blumenthal is "taking on water'' because of his comments.
"I have a feeling this is going to be a very close race now,'' Fleischer said at about 4:30 p.m.
Chris Matthews on MSNBC's "Hardball'' has been talking constantly about Blumenthal's situation since the story broke earlier this week, and he interviewed Republican Rob Simmons on the program on Wednesday night.
"Personally, I think he ought to get out of politics for a while,'' Matthews said of Blumenthal during the interview with Simmons.
Simmons, who served for about 20 months in Vietnam, said Blumenthal owes an apology to Vietnam veterans.
"He didn't misspeak,'' Simmons said. "He misled.''
Surrounded by fellow veterans in West Hartford, Blumenthal admitted Tuesday that he had misspoken on several occasions, but he said that he would not allow political critics to take some "misplaced words'' to impugn his service in the United States Marine Corps Reserve.