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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (535575)	2/4/2004 10:18:12 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 769670

On a bus tour in Tennessee, Clark -- who claimed victory in Oklahoma even though Tuesday's results remained unofficial -- unleashed the most heated attack of his campaign against the two. In written statements released by his campaign, Clark branded Kerry and Edwards "conventional politicians" who "say one thing and then do another." New landscape The primary season moved into a new chapter, with Kerry's momentum fueled by Tuesday's multiple wins and Edwards' first victory. (Full story) The results represented the broadest assessment by voters -- both in geographic and demographic terms -- on the narrowing Democratic field. Dean hit the campaign trail hard. He hopes a win in the Washington caucuses would mark the beginning of a return to the front of the pack -- the status he held in nationwide polls before the primary season began. He is also competing in Michigan caucuses. "We can do things differently in this country, it just requires courage," he said in his Seattle speech. While indirect, he repeated some criticism of Kerry. "You know that we need health insurance for all Americans," he said. "You think we're going to get it from some folks in Washington who have been the largest receivers of special interest money for the last 19 years? I don't think so." Kerry has received more contributions from lobbyists than any other senator since 1989, according to data compiled by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. (Full story)

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (535575)	2/4/2004 10:19:35 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 769670

FARGO, North Dakota (CNN) -- Sen. John Kerry braved sub-zero temperatures Sunday to stump for votes in frosty North Dakota, while his rivals tried to heat up the race with a new line of attack: that the Democratic front-runner has been too cozy with lobbyists to effectively lead the fight against powerful special interests. The Kerry campaign was also confronted with a report in the current issue of Newsweek that the senator's office contacted federal regulators to assist a friend of Johnny Chung, a central figure in the 1996 fund-raising scandals, shortly before Chung threw a fund-raiser for Kerry's Senate re-election campaign that year. Kerry said Sunday that he had "no recollection" of meeting Chung. He also said Chung, who later pleaded guilty to making illegal campaign contributions to both Kerry and former President Bill Clinton, received no special treatment because of his fund-raising help. "This is old news. It's been thoroughly vetted, it was investigated. The moment we had learned anything about that contribution, we returned the entire contribution," he told reporters in Fargo. But Howard Dean blasted Kerry over his dealings with Chung, saying he owes the American people an "apology." "John Kerry has absolutely no credibility at all anymore when it comes to fighting special interests in Washington," the former Vermont governor told reporters aboard his campaign plane Sunday. Earlier in the day, in an interview with NBC's "Meet The Press," Dean also stood behind the criticism he leveled at Kerry on Saturday, after figures from the Center for Responsive Politics surfaced showing Kerry had received more campaign contributions from registered lobbyists since 1989 than any current or former senator. cnn.com

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (535575)	2/4/2004 10:36:22 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 769670

he is "out of sync" with most voters, "culturally out of step with the rest of America," a man who votes with "the extreme elements of his party," as Ed Gillespie, the Republican chairman, has put it in recent days. In short, that he is a Massachusetts liberal Conservative leaders said the court decision only underscored the need for a federal constitutional amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples. Mr. Bush appears increasingly likely to embrace such an amendment. Mr. Kerry says he supports civil unions, not same-sex marriages, but has opposed a constitutional amendment outlawing them. "This could be a very defining difference between the candidates," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a conservative group. In a statement on Wednesday night, Mr. Kerry clearly sought a middle ground. He said he believed in protecting the "fundamental rights of gay and lesbian couples, from inheritance to health benefits," but added that he believed the answer was civil unions. "I oppose gay marriage and disagree with the Massachusetts court's decision," he said. Republicans assert Mr. Kerry's problem is his own voting record, and argue that it is very fair game. Mr. Gillespie, in a recent speech, asserted that Mr. Kerry's voting record was, by some measures, even more liberal than the senior senator from Massachusetts, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, another icon of liberalism. Ralph Reed, chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign in the Southeast, said on Wednesday, "More important than labels is the fact that he has a voting record over 20 years in the U.S. Senate that is out of the mainstream, simply out of step with where the American people are, by consistently voting to weaken national defense, undercut our intelligence capability and massively raise taxes." Mr. Gillespie also noted that Mr. Kerry voted against the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, barring federal recognition of same-sex marriages, a measure that was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. nytimes.com