Kerry Suggests Bush Could Revive Draft
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By MARY DALRYMPLE, Associated Press Writer
MILWAUKEE - There is a "great potential of a draft" to replenish U.S. forces in Iraq (news - web sites) if President Bush (news - web sites) wins a second term, Democratic challenger John Kerry (news - web sites) said Friday on a campaign stop in Iowa.
Bush said in the second presidential debate that there would be no revival of the military draft under any circumstances if he is re-elected. "We're not going to have a draft, period," the president said.
However, Kerry told The Des Moines Register, "With George Bush (news - web sites), the plan for Iraq is more of the same and the great potential of a draft." The interview was published Friday as Kerry left for a day of campaigning in Wisconsin.
Bush-Cheney campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said Kerry's statement amounts to "fear mongering" and demonstrates "that he is a candidate willing to do or say anything to score political points."
Kerry shifted to pocketbook issues in Milwaukee, telling hundreds of voters that the president's record on jobs and taxes helped special interests, not their interests.
"Right now, we've got an economy where people feel like they're on a treadmill, running faster and faster with each passing year, but they're not getting ahead. They're staying in place, and a whole bunch of folks are even falling behind," Kerry said.
"The bottom line is this: This economy has a bad case of the flu and we need a new medicine," Kerry said.
Kerry portrayed the president as insensitive with the everyday challenges facing families.
"The president has proven beyond a doubt he's out of touch with the average American family, he's out of ideas, and he's unwilling to change course. So, we have to change course for him," Kerry said.
Bush has defended his economic record, saying that repeated tax cuts energized growth and helped create 1.78 million jobs after the economy sustained terrorist attacks, a sustained stock market slide and a recession.
Wisconsin's unemployment rate runs below the national average, and the state's voters haven't seen the severe job losses afflicting other Midwestern battlegrounds. Bush has a slight lead in the state, which Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites) won narrowly four years ago.
Kerry, Edwards and their wives were briefed for more than an hour Thursday night on the campaign's "unprecedented" plan for voter turnout and fighting voter suppression, said campaign adviser Mike McCurry. McCurry said Kerry requested the briefing, which campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill led in a Des Moines hotel room after the two couples held a rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
McCurry would not give any details of the briefing but said the campaign is very concerned about allegations of voter suppression. He said they hear that Republican election officials are not producing enough ballots given increases in voter registration. |
