Cokie Roberts: Blumenthal should quit

ABC News analyst Cokie Roberts said Sunday that Connecticut Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal (D) should end his campaign over his misstatements about his Vietnam War record.

The New York Times this week reported that Blumenthal stated several times that he said he served "in" Vietnam during the war and that he told anecdotes as if he saw action there.

Blumenthal served in the Marine Reserve in Washington, D.C. after receiving several deferments. Roberts thinks that Republicans could pick up the seat of retiring Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) due to Blumenthal's errors:

TAPPER: Donna, you're a Democratic strategist. If he came to you and said, "What do I do?" what would you tell him?

BRAZILE: Well, first of all, he apologized, and he should continue to apologize, but he needs to get this burden off his back and get back to talking to voters about the real issues. The longer he talks about this and the more tapes and the more, you know, well, on this occasion, I said it this time, I didn't say it this time. Voters don't care about that. They care about their jobs, their health care, their way of life. Mr. Blumenthal has an incredible record of public service, but if he can't talk about the issues, voters will remember this mistake.

ROBERTS: If I were a Democratic strategist, I'd tell him to get out of the race.

TAPPER: Just out?

ROBERTS: Out, because I think that -- again, it's not a year for phonies. And -- and people are going to hold this against him.

Like Brazile suggested, Democratic leaders have accepted Blumenthal's apology, citing his strong record with veterans during his two decade tenure as state attorney general.

Democrats have turned their focus on Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul (R), who questioned the legality of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 this week.

The law ended sanctioned racial discrimination.