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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (34799)	3/16/2004 3:34:48 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793640

Times on the trail - A continually updated report from the campaign trail reported and edited by the Washington bureau of The Times and produced by NYTimes.com POLITICAL POINTS \| 3.15 3:45 PM White House Spokesman Jumps Into Campaign Dispute By CARL HULSE Trying to keep alive a political dispute, the White House spokesman said today that if Senator John Kerry does not disclose the names of foreign leaders who have told him they hope President Bush loses the election, then the Democratic presidential candidate must be inventing the whole thing. "Either he is straightforward and states who they are or the only conclusion one can draw is that he is making it up to attack the president," said the spokesman, Scott McClellan. "This is not the first time he has refused to back up his assertions." That is pretty tough language coming from the official voice of the White House as opposed to his political operation, and Mr. Kerry's strategists were not about to let it go unanswered. "If the president wants his White House press secretary to be the press secretary for the re-election campaign, he ought to get him off the taxpayers' payroll and stop using the White House for political purposes," said Stephanie Cutter, a Kerry spokeswoman. "This is part of a pattern of the failure of this White House to distinguish between politics and governing." The White House evidently believes that Mr. Kerry is vulnerable on this one, considering that Secretary Powell raked him over the coals on Sunday and then Mr. McClellan raised it again today. The Bush campaign also set up an afternoon conference call to allow reporters to talk about the issue with Senator Norm Coleman, Republican of Minnesota. Republicans were successful in 2000 in raising questions about Al Gore's veracity by pounding on issues like this, and they have seized this latest opening. But the vote in Spain on Sunday could be interpreted as an illustration of the serious reservations people overseas have about the president's policy, backing Mr. Kerry's basic claim if not the the details. Plus the attack, in coming from the White House, could remind voters that the Bush administration has on many occasions been accused of being less than forthcoming when pressed for information.