The failed Democratic presidential candidate of 2000 discovered "An Inconvenient Truth." The failed Democratic presidential candidate of 2004 stumbled upon an accidental one.

As we all know, John Kerry "botched a joke" two weeks ago. He wanted to say that the President's lack of intelligence and initiative led to our disastrous policy in Iraq. He wound up saying, "You know, education - if you make the most of it, you study hard and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

President Bush blasted Kerry. Democrats distanced themselves. Pundits pounced. How dare this man suggest the troops are stupid?

But Kerry's real mistake wasn't offending the troops. It was misunderstanding them. Now that we have a little breathing room - and are commemorating Veterans Day weekend - isn't it time for an honest conversation?

There is indeed a relationship between education and military service. But Kerry's joke got it backward. The truth is, many Americans enlist precisely for the chance to study hard and access avenues of opportunity too often closed for them here at home.

Many of them have low incomes. A recent study by the National Priorities Project found that the top 20 counties for recruiting soldiers had median household incomes below the national level. And 19 of those counties were poorer than the average in their states. The bulk of Army recruits come from families making between $30,000 and $60,000 a year. As household income goes up, representation in Army recruitment goes down.

It isn't a surprise that those with the least economic opportunity are joining the military. Their options are increasingly limited as the White House talks plenty about the importance of college but does nothing to stem the tide of its skyrocketing costs.

Since 2000, tuition, fees and room and board at public four-year universities have shot up more than 50% - yet the average Pell Grant decreased this year for the first time in six years, and still only covers up to a third of the college costs at an average four-year school.

The military understands what's happening. That's why they recruit where they will find the most receptive audience, advertising all of the educational benefits that come with service.

For qualified working-class young people, military service is a way out. And it can be a way in, too. There's a database of Fortune 500 companies ready to hire veterans. As one midtown executive who employs an Iraq War veteran told me, "I'd hire as many veterans as I could." How many low-income 20- and 30-somethings can count on that?

Of course, young people also enlist because of patriotism and an honest desire to serve their country - but you can't eliminate economics from the equation.

So here's my inconvenient truth: Americans didn't vote on just the war or just the economy, but on both. They voted against the policies that leave them reading the obituaries of thousands of young people who died somewhere else trying to make a better life here.

Executive Director of the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy