In your dreams! Pres Bush in Wilkes Barre PA Today:
Bush Talks Security, Kerry Domestic Issues
22-Oct-2004 AP / DEB RIECHMANN
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) -- President Bush, in a new line of criticism aimed at Sen. John Kerry, said Friday the choice in this presidential race boils down to who can keep American homes safer from terrorists and contended his opponent was not up to the task during wartime.
Bush said families face five choices of "great consequence" in the election -- security, home budgets, quality of life, retirement and values -- but argued that security tops the list.
"All progress on every other issue depends on the safety of our citizens," Bush told supporters. "Americans will go to the polls in a time of war and ongoing threat to our country."
Eastern Pennsylvania was Bush's first stop on a day of campaigning in which he's hitting three showdown states -- Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida. Winning all three would amount to a political trifecta: they account for one-fourth of the 270 electoral votes needed for victory.
Bush reminded voters that this is the first election since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and said the threat has not subsided.
"The enemies who killed thousands of innocent people are still dangerous and determined to strike us again," he said. If terrorists like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi wasn't busy fighting American forces in Iraq, Bush asked sarcastically, does Kerry think they'd be "opening a small business?"
Bush said Kerry considers the war on terror primarily a law enforcement and intelligence-gathering operation. One of Kerry's foreign policy advisers likened it to the metaphorical "war on poverty," Bush said.
"I've got news," Bush said. "Anyone who thinks we're fighting a metaphor does not understand the enemy we face and has no idea how to win the war and keep America secure."
The president's opponent, John Kerry, addressed a rally Friday consisting mostly of women and highlighted their concerns. In response, Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said Kerry has voted the wrong way for American women and their families during his 20 years in the Senate.
"John Kerry talks about making life better for women, but he voted for higher taxes on their gas. He voted for higher taxes on their Social Security benefits. He even voted for higher taxes on their children and their marriages," Schmidt said.
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