Kerry Takes Off Gloves, Pounds Bush Sharply
By Howard Kurtz, Washington Post Staff Writer
NEW YORK, Sept. 2 -- John F. Kerry came out swinging Thursday night, denouncing the Republican convention for its "anger and distortion" and belittling Vice President Cheney for avoiding the military draft during the Vietnam War era.
In his sharpest and most personal remarks of the presidential campaign, Kerry responded to the rhetorical assault on him at the convention by accusing the Republicans of attacking "my fitness to serve as commander in chief. Well, here's my answer: I'm not going to have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who have misled the nation into Iraq (news - web sites)."
The Democratic presidential nominee signaled a new, more confrontational style in remarks prepared for a midnight rally in Springfield, Ohio, scheduled to be delivered one hour after President Bush (news - web sites)'s convention speech. The shift followed meetings with an expanded team of advisers that includes two veterans of the Clinton White House.
Noting that Cheney had described him as "unfit for office," Kerry, whose Vietnam War service has been questioned by a group of Swift boat veterans whom he has accused of working with the Bush campaign, broke with his usual practice of not questioning the military credentials of his opponents.
"I guess I'll leave it up to the voters whether five deferments makes someone more qualified to defend this nation than two tours of duty," Kerry said. Cheney received a series of deferments from 1962 to 1966 for college and graduate school and then for having a child.
"Let me tell you what I think makes someone unfit for duty," Kerry says in the remarks. "Misleading our nation into war in Iraq makes you unfit to lead this nation. Doing nothing while this nation loses millions of jobs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting 45 million Americans go without health care makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting the Saudi royal family control our energy costs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Handing out billions [in] government contracts to Halliburton while you're still on their payroll makes you unfit."
Cheney, who was not personally involved in the contracts, gave up the chief executive's post at Halliburton when he ran for vice president but has continued to receive deferred compensation.
The tougher rhetoric comes as the Kerry camp is beginning an $8 million advertising blitz that will accuse the president of a string of broken promises. Six of the ads will air in swing-state markets right after the president visits them on a post-convention tour: Cleveland; Milwaukee; Scranton and Erie, Pa.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Parkersburg, W.Va.
"We're going to be very aggressive throughout the fall in painting the real picture of George Bush (news - web sites)," communications director Stephanie Cutter said of the new spots. "We are going to remind voters of what George Bush said in 2000 and what he did. It is a much more aggressive stance."
An ad that will run in Pennsylvania, for example, will say that Bush promised health care for seniors four years ago but that now millions remain without health insurance and drug prices are soaring.
The Kerry camp announced two milder commercials Thursday in an effort to turn the campaign debate back to domestic issues after the GOP's most high-profile speakers assailed the senator from Massachusetts as weak on national security.
"It's time for a president who understands that a stronger America begins at home," Kerry says in one ad, which will run on cable networks. "It's time to stop rewarding companies for shipping jobs overseas. To get health care costs under control. And to end America's dependence on Middle East oil."
The ad concludes with a classic Democratic message that had also been used by Bill Clinton (news - web sites) and Al Gore (news - web sites): "The fundamental choice in this election is between a president who will fight for the middle class and a president who sides with the special interests in this country."
The second Kerry spot will air in Ohio, where Bush is to campaign Saturday: "It's America's heartland, but it's been hit hard. In the past four years, Ohio has lost 230,000 jobs. President Bush insists the economy is just fine. We know America can do better."
Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt turned the "special interests" charge back at Kerry, saying the senator has helped block medical malpractice reform. "He's picked the side of the trial lawyers over doctors and patients," Schmidt said.
The president's campaign, meanwhile, released three positive ads Thursday night, highlighting domestic initiatives from Bush's convention speech.
One ticks off Bush's agenda: "Lower health care costs. Allow small businesses to band together to get insurance rates big companies get. Tax-free health savings accounts [that] families own. Stop junk lawsuits against doctors and hospitals. . . . Every eligible child with health coverage." In another, the president touts "a fairer, simpler tax code" and promises to "strengthen Social Security (news - web sites)."
Kerry has run mainly positive spots for six months in the face of relentless negative advertising by Bush, but is dramatically shifting gears in planning to question the president's fitness for a second term. |
