Max Cleeland show up at George Bush's doorstep to demand a condemnation of the spurious attacks on Kerry's Vietnam record: The Kerry campaign announced Wednesday morning that it would surprise Bush by sending former senator Max Cleland (D-Ga.), who lost three limbs in Vietnam, to his ranch here with a letter asking the president to denounce criticism of Kerry's war record. But the Bush campaign got word of the stunt -- perhaps because it was reported on CNN -- and had its own Vietnam veteran waiting for Cleland with a letter defending the criticism of Kerry. With about 30 journalists watching, the two veterans circled each other in the 95-degree heat at a checkpoint outside the ranch, holding their letters as if they were hand grenades. Then -- without exchanging letters -- the two retreated to face the cameras at a nearby schoolyard, Cleland demanding Bush denounce ads by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and the Bush veteran, identified by the White House as "a representative of the campaign," praising one of the group's ads as "very telling." As Cleland's white Cadillac approached the checkpoint near Bush's ranch, a Bush aide signaled another Bush aide, who signaled a third, whereupon a man in a Veterans of Foreign Wars cap and a tie with a shotgun-shell print walked up to meet Cleland. "I have a letter for the president of the United States, and I'd like to hand it to the Secret Service gentleman here," Cleland announced to the media mob.