Democratic Contenders Attack Bush on Iraq, Terrorism,
Trade and Economy
The New York Times
January 30, 2004
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE and DAVID M. HALBFINGER
The following are excerpts from the article:
GREENVILLE, S.C., Jan. 29 - The Democratic presidential contenders
attacked President Bush on Thursday for his handling of Iraq and
terrorism and for his stance on trade and the economy
and insisted that their party would be able to compete against him in the South.
Their exchanges, at a debate in one of the seven states with
nominating contests Tuesday, reflected the changed dynamics of the presidential race
since Senator John Kerry won the first two contests, in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Howard Dean, shifting easily to dart thrower from the target
he played in earlier debates, questioned Senator Kerry's record and effectiveness. Dr.
Dean's challenge came more than midway through a debate
that up until then had been largely civil, with the seven candidates focusing their fire
on Mr. Bush instead of on one another.
"Just to make this a little less mellow," Dr. Dean began,
setting up a suggestion that Mr. Kerry had little to show for his 19 years in Washington.
"When I was governor, I got everybody in my state who is under 18 health insurance.
"Now, Senator Kerry is the front-runner, and I mean him no insult,
but in 19 years in the Senate, Senator Kerry sponsored nine, 11 bills that had
anything to do with health care, and not one of them passed.
If you want a president who is going to get results, I suggest that you look at
somebody who did get results in my state."
Dr. Dean, subdued but seeming a bit prickly over his campaign's
sinking fortunes, also suggested that the other candidates had appropriated his
themes.
"Everybody on this stage, or a lot of people on this stage have now
embraced my message," he said. "They all talk about change. They all talk about
bringing people into the party. The truth is, I stood up for that message
when nobody else would."
Still the candidates generally focused on what they described
as President Bush's failures, faulting him for his conduct on national security and on
the economy…………………………………..
Senators Edwards and Kerry and Dr. Dean all called for an
independent commission to investigate the intelligence on which Mr. Bush relied to
argue that Saddam Hussein had unconventional weapons.
The candidates also seemed to want to impress Southern
voters here in the state seen as the gateway to the Southern primaries.
Dr. Dean emphasized his good relations with the National Rifle Association,
saying he had worked with the gun lobby to set aside thousands of
acres for conservation and hunting………………………
The candidates also discussed the economy in a state that has
lost more jobs than at any time since the Great Depression, seen its manufacturing
base steadily disappear overseas and watched 65,000 jobs in the
textile industry alone vanish in the last 10 years.
Dr. Dean said that the North American Free Trade Agreement ought
to be changed to extend labor and environmental protections to America's
trading partners.
"You've got to put the emphasis on fair trade, not free trade," he said.
"And what the problem has been that when the Clinton administration and
the Bush administration continued to push this, only half the job was done.
We forgot about the workers."………….
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
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