Democratic Chief Says 'AWOL' Bush Will Be an Issue After a Nominee Emerges
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
Published: February 2, 2004
OSEVILLE, Mich., Feb. 1 — With the Democratic presidential candidates campaigning across the country on Sunday, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee accused President Bush of being AWOL during his Air National Guard service, a signal of the ferocious campaign ahead once the Democrats finish with one another.
Revisiting an issue that arose briefly at the end of the last presidential election, the chairman, Terry McAuliffe, said he expected Mr. Bush's record of military service in the 1970's to become an issue this fall, particularly if the Democrats nominate the front-runner, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.
Mr. McAuliffe said he was staying neutral in the fight for his party's nomination. But, he said, if Mr. Kerry is the nominee, Mr. McAuliffe will relish comparing him with Mr. Bush.
"I look forward to that debate, when John Kerry, a war hero with a chest full of medals, is standing next to George Bush, a man who was AWOL" in the National Guard, Mr. McAuliffe said on the ABC program "This Week."
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"George Bush never served in our military in our country," he said. "He didn't show up when he should have showed up."
Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican National Committee, called the comments "slanderous."
"President Bush served honorably in the National Guard," Mr. Gillespie said in a telephone interview. "He was never AWOL. To make an accusation like that on national television with no basis in fact is despicable."
The issue of Mr. Bush's military service arose when the filmmaker Michael Moore, a supporter of Gen. Wesley K. Clark, called Mr. Bush a deserter at a rally last month.
Mr. McAuliffe's attack on Mr. Bush seemed partly pre-emptive, suggesting that the Democrats would swing back hard if the Republicans tried to portray Mr. Kerry, decorated for his service in Vietnam, as weak on national security because in his Senate career he has voted against increasing the Pentagon budget.
It might also have been a diversionary tactic by Mr. McAuliffe, who has watched with dismay as the Democratic candidates deliver increasingly harsh blows at one another. If that was the case, it failed.
Howard Dean continued to blast Mr. Kerry on Sunday, saying Mr. Kerry had taken more money from lobbyists than any other senator in the last 15 years. Citing an article in Time magazine that said Mr. Kerry once corresponded with Johnny Chung, who later pleaded guilty to illegally funneling money to the Kerry campaign, Dr. Dean said Mr. Kerry owed voters an apology.
"He misrepresented himself, grossly misrepresented himself, as a candidate who would take on special interests in Washington," Dr. Dean told reporters on his campaign plane. "We cannot go on in this country having United States senators and public officials gather their money from people who they then perform favors for."
Mr. Kerry told reporters that the Chung story was old news. "The moment we had learned anything about that contribution," he said, "we returned the entire contribution."
On Saturday Mr. Kerry fired back, saying that Dr. Dean had conflicts of his own and had had to seal his records from his days as governor of Vermont to hide them. He also said that two of Dr. Dean's top campaign aides had been corporate lobbyists.
But Mr. Kerry generally held his fire on Sunday, staying in Fargo, N.D., and taking the posture of a front-runner as he anticipated a strong showing in Tuesday's string of primaries and caucuses. He also spurned the idea of a one-on-one debate with Dr. Dean, which he proposed before he won in Iowa and in New Hampshire.
"We're in a seven-state primary," Mr. Kerry said. "I don't have time right now."
Dr. Dean, who has said he does not expect to win in any of the seven states that hold contests on Tuesday, said he would drop out of the race if someone else accumulated enough delegates to claim the nomination. But he also told reporters that he did not expect anyone to do that before the convention.
He said on the NBC program "Meet the Press" that he intended to stay in the race through March 2, "Super Tuesday," when delegate-rich states like California and New York vote.
Mr. Kerry appeared to be running out the clock. Instead of charging off on Sunday to a populous state with more delegates than North Dakota, he stayed in Fargo to watch the Super Bowl.
Speaking to a crowd of about 600 North Dakotans at the Fargo Air Museum at midday Sunday, Mr. Kerry repeated his standard stump speech. He did not back off from his sharp criticisms of the Bush administration as being hostage to special interests, even in the face of continued sharp attacks from Dr. Dean.
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