He doesn't much care.

What he does care about is what the federal government that both Bush and Kerry want to lead will do for the 180,000 members he represents as national commander of Amvets, a national veterans service organization, and the rest of the 25 million Americans who have worn their country's military uniform.

National AMVETS Commander Bill Boettcher (far left) visits the AMVETS Post 120 in Franklin, Ohio. (Enquirer photo/GLENN HARTONG)

"I'm more interested in results than rhetoric,'' said Boettcher, a former Marine and a Vietnam combat veteran who lives in Delhi Township.

For the past 12 years, Boettcher's job has been to help fellow veterans in his hometown as executive director of the Hamilton County Veteran Services Commission.

For the next year, though, he will be working on a much larger stage.

In August, the lifetime member of Amvets Post 1988 in Monfort Heights and former Ohio Amvets commander was named national commander for 2004-05.

Since then, he has been traveling through the country visiting Amvets posts in an effort to raise awareness of veterans' issues in a presidential election year and to encourage the organization's 180,000 members to vote.

"We don't tell our members how to vote; we don't endorse candidates,'' Boettcher said.

Boettcher said veterans have issues that are important to them, including health care, disability compensation, education, national defense and security. But, he said, "They are like most Americans in that they don't cast votes based on one or two issues.''

"If we could have one or two elections where veterans voted strictly on their issues, we'd get what we want,'' Boettcher said. "Veterans could be a pretty powerful force.''

Boettcher plans to testify before Congress in next spring's budget hearings, where he says he will push for issues that Amvets members feel strongly about:

• Full funding for veterans' health care.

• Veterans' survivor benefits.

• A constitutional amendment banning desecration of the flag.

• Better pay and benefits for active-duty military, as well as Guardsmen and reservists.

Tim Culbertson of Sycamore Township, a combat-wounded Vietnam veteran who has known Boettcher for more than 10 years, said the new national commander "is the kind of guy who can bring people together to get things done.''

"I think if George W. Bush had known about Bill Boettcher when he came into office, Bill would be the kind of guy who could head the VA,'' said Culbertson, an Amvets member.

Culbertson said he met Boettcher in 1993 when they were volunteering at a "stand-down,'' an event where homeless veterans can be connected with veterans' services.

"He's one of the best I've ever seen as a mediator; he's always got a smile on his face and people respond to him,'' Culbertson said. "The man gets things done.''

Amvets is a small organization when compared to the giants among the veterans' groups: The American Legion has almost 3 million members, the Veterans of Foreign Wars has 2.6 million.

But, Boettcher said, Amvets is unique in that it welcomes those whose only military service was in the National Guard or in the reserves.

"You've got thousands and thousands of Guardsmen and reservists serving in Iraq, doing the same job as the regular army,'' Boettcher said. "We open our doors to them as brothers and sisters in arms. A veteran is a veteran is a veteran.''

President Bush, as someone who served in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War, would be eligible for membership in Amvets, as would Kerry, who served in combat in Vietnam as a swift boat pilot.

As far as Boettcher is concerned, both men "served honorably.''

The attack on Kerry's service in Vietnam, Boettcher said, "is an insult to all the 58,000 names on that wall,'' referring to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

"We need to focus not on what they did 30-some years ago,'' the Vietnam veteran said. "We need to listen to what they have to say today.''

About Amvets

Amvets has 180,000 members in 1,400 posts nationwide.

Ohio has more members and posts than any other state, with about 30,000 members and 150 posts.

The new national commander, Bill Boettcher, is a Vietnam veteran who has spent the past 12 years as executive director of the Hamilton County Veterans Services Commission.

A lifetime member of Amvets Post 1988 in Monfort Heights, he is a former state commander of the organization.

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E-mail hwilkinson@enquirer.com