Kerry says he a better leader than Bush
news.yahoo.com
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites) says he can overcome doubts about his leadership abilities and persuade US voters ahead of November's presidential election that he can better protect them against terrorism than George W. Bush.
With just 100 days left before polling day, Kerry told the New York Times in an interview to be published Sunday that enough time remained for him to prove his credentials on national security -- an area where opinion polls suggest he still lags behind the current White House incumbent.
"It takes time" for a challenger to gain public confidence on such issues, Kerry said, adding that he was "not worried about that."
"I'm just quite confident that as the next months of the campaign go on, I am going to have the ability to be able to make it clear to America that I can make this country safe and strong," he said.
Kerry backed his confidence with his record as a decorated Vietnam veteran, which his campaign has leaned heavily on as a point of comparison with Bush, who has never experienced military combat.
"As America gets to know me as a fighter, and they see how I've stood up and fought for the defense of our nation, and the choices that I have made, I believe that they will have confidence in my ability to lead this nation in difficult times," he told the Times.
"I've bled for my country," he added.
Insisting that he was better qualified to counter any threats to national security, Kerry also argued that he could mend the diplomatic rifts caused by the US-led military invasion of Iraq (news - web sites).
"I think I can do a better job than George Bush," the senator from Massachusetts said. "I can fight a more effective war on terror. I can make America safer. I will bring allies back to our side."
Kerry is currently on a cross-country tour that will eventually lead him to Boston, where on Thursday he will formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's national convention.
Kerry's acceptance speech is being touted as a key test of his ability to break free of Bush in opinion polls that have for months placed both candidates in a virtual dead heat.
Outlining the Democrats' approach to the convention, Kerry said the four-day event would tone down the anti-Bush rhetoric and focus instead on the values represented by his own candidacy.
"I want this to be a positive affirmation of why I'm running for president and what I want to do as president," he told the newspaper. "My plan is to introduce both myself and the vision I have for the country. But I want to do it in a personal way."
One of the questions that has been raised over Kerry's chances to take the White House has been his image as a somewhat aloof figure who lacks the common touch and the ability to stir voter passions.
But the senator dismissed those concerns, which have been fanned by an intensive Republican advertising campaign painting him as a "flip-flop" politician with few convictions.
"I think there's more weird psychobabble out there than I've ever seen in American politics," he said. "I'm doing just fine. We're very confident about where this campaign is headed." |
