|
 John
Kerry
 excerpts
from
the Iowa Daily Report
July
2003
… “Kerry
backs subsidies to help Boeing fight Airbus”
– headline from yesterday’s Seattle Times.
Coverage by the David Postman, the Times chief
political reporter: “Democratic
presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry says
the United States should subsidize Boeing like
France does Airbus. ‘I'm tired of Airbus
playing all kinds of subsidy games,’ Kerry
said yesterday. ‘We have to fight back, and I
think the government has to do more to help
leverage Boeing's position.’ Kerry,
D-Mass., said he would aggressively challenge
European subsidies of Airbus through the World
Trade Organization. Boeing and the United
States have claimed that Airbus' European
government support is illegal under WTO rules.
Kerry says the United States ultimately
will have to use business-tax cuts and other
economic measures to create an industrial
policy that gives Boeing what its foreign,
subsidized competitor has. ‘I think
it's get-tough time,’ Kerry said from
California yesterday afternoon before flying
here for his speech to state Democrats. ‘We've
watched while products get dumped in the
United States and our people sit on their
asses. We have to fight back.’ His
comments about Boeing come at a time when the
company's future in Washington state is
unknown, and efforts to persuade Boeing to
expand here have taken on great political
meaning…. ‘I'm not for tariffs. I'm not for
going into a trade war,’ Kerry said.
‘But if these guys are using unfair practices,
I'm not going to sit by and watch.’ Kerry
arrived in Seattle yesterday afternoon and
held a quick fund-raiser at the Mercer Island
home of Alex Alben, an executive with
RealNetworks, said Kerry's spokesman,
David Wade. Kerry then rode with party
activists on a bus to Tacoma, where he was the
featured speaker at the state party's annual
dinner to honor former Gov. Al Rosellini.”
(7/2/2003)
… Looming
question for the coming days: Will the bitter
Dean-Kerry battle become bitterer as
competition increases for coveted New
Hampshire victory? Andrew Miga’s report in
yesterday’s Boston Herald about Kerry
camp’s reaction to Dean’s latest
success: “Howard Dean, in a blow to bitter
rival Sen. John F. Kerry, raced ahead of
the Democratic presidential pack by raising
more than $6.6 million over the past three
months…Dean's surprise fund-raising surge
jolted Kerry {D-Mass.}, with whom he is
dueling in New Hampshire, a must-win
primary for the Bay State senator. The
Kerry camp had hoped to regain momentum
this quarter after being edged for the money
lead three months ago by Sen. John Edwards
(D-N.C.). ‘Howard Dean's money reminds
observers that the top tier in this
campaign can only be so big and this may mean
that we are moving closer to a two-man race,’
said Kerry aide Kelley Benander.
Kerry and Edwards are expected to raise
about $5 million for the latest quarter, which
ended yesterday.”(7/2/2003)
… Somebody
had to do it and it appears that Greg Pierce –
in yesterday’s “Inside Politics” column in the
Washington Times – did. Under the subhead
“Last-minute appeals,” Pierce did a
postmortem on the frantic efforts by the
various wannabes to inspire contributors
during the final hours before Monday’s FEC
deadline. Pierce’s report: “Several
presidential hopefuls in the nine-member
Democratic field sent out urgent pleas for
last-minute cash as the second quarter's close
approached Monday. ‘Only a Few Hours
Left,’ said a campaign e-mail from Rep. Dick
Gephardt of Missouri. ‘The clock is
ticking,’ North Carolina Sen. John Edwards
told prospective donors in another online
pitch. ‘There are only 12 hours left before
the critical June 30 fund-raising deadline,’
Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut senator,
wrote in an e-mail message. ‘Before 12
midnight (Central Time), please visit my Web
site and make a contribution to my campaign.’
Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor,
posted real-time totals every half hour on the
Internet and urged donors to ‘hit a grand slam
for Dean.’ Mr. Dean's overall total
of about $7.1 million for the second quarter
topped early estimates from other Democratic
candidates. Officials with the campaigns of
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and Mr.
Edwards said they expected
second-quarter totals of about $5 million.
Added to their first-quarter figures of more
than $7 million, they could still lead the
early Democratic money race overall. Mr.
Gephardt was aiming for $5 million in
the second quarter, Mr. Lieberman hoped
for $4 million and Sen. Bob Graham of
Florida expected to report $2 million to $3
million in contributions, officials with those
campaigns told AP. Former Illinois Sen. Carol
Moseley Braun said she raised about
$150,000 during the quarter. Al Sharpton and
Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio did not provide
estimates.” (Iowa Pres Watch Note:
Other reports have indicated that Kucinich
expected to report “about $1 million” for the
second quarter while Sharpton
supporters said he would report receiving
about $100,000 in contributions.)
(7/3/2003)
… “Kerry
vows to repeal portions of tax cuts” –
Headline from yesterday’s Union Leader --
but it’s really a wide-ranging anti-Bush
attack. (Iowa Pres Watch Note: A
cynic would suggest that Kerry has
intensified his attacks on the president in
recent hours since Dean moved to center
stage in the battle for NH and elsewhere.)
Coverage by Union Leader correspondent
Jerry Miller: “Democratic Presidential
hopeful John Kerry yesterday said he would
repeal portions of the Bush tax cuts that he
said would benefit the wealthy and criticized
the President for not properly funding the
AmeriCorps program. Kerry also
insisted the administration must
‘internationalize’ the war against Iraq as
quickly as possible in order to ‘defuse the
sense of occupation.’ Kerry appeared
before a crowd of more than 150 employees and
invited guests at the corporate headquarters
of Fisher Scientific, a manufacturer of
scientific equipment. The Bay State Democrat
was introduced by Fisher chief executive
officer Paul Montrone. Montrone said the
19-year Senate veteran ‘understands what it
takes to create jobs and move the economy.’
‘This is the most anti-science administration
we’ve had in this country in years, if not
ever,’ Kerry said. In Rollinsford,
Kerry said he does not believe any of the
candidates have been as tested as he has,
given the four elections he has won in
Massachusetts. ‘I’ve been fighting for the
issues I believe in since the day when I
returned from Vietnam and stood up against
Richard Nixon and earned the right to be on
his enemy’s list,’ Kerry said. He
criticized the Bush administration for failing
to fund the AmeriCorps service program. ‘This
is the biggest say-one thing-do-another
administration I’ve ever seen, Kerry
said to a roomful of about 100 supporters in
the American Legion Hall. In Portsmouth,
Martha Fuller Clark, the 2000 and 2002
Democratic nominee in New Hampshire’s first
congressional district, announced her support
for Kerry. Kerry has the strongest leadership,
the experience and the courage to stand up to
Bush, Clark said. He also said he was
strong on women’s issues and abortion rights.
At Fisher, Kerry’s biggest applause line
came in a reference to Bush’s landing on an
aircraft carrier and his deplanement in a
flight suit. ‘Landing on an aircraft
carrier in a borrowed suit doesn’t make up for
a failed economic policy,’ he said. Should
the administration propose an invasion or
military action of either Iran or Syria, Kerry
said he will ‘lead the effort to restore
common sense.’ Such a policy would be
‘extraordinarily dangerous,’ he added.
Kerry said internationalizing the conflict
in Iraq would help reduce the burden on
American taxpayers and reduce the deaths of
American troops. However, Kerry
declined to characterize the recent deaths of
American forces as a guerrilla war. “(7/3/2003)
… Gephardt,
Kerry criticize GWB for ‘bring the on’
challenge. Under the headline “Taunting
the president,” Greg Pierce – in his
“Inside Politics” column – reported in
yesterday’s Washington Times: “Two
Democratic presidential hopefuls stepped up
their criticism of President Bush yesterday,
saying the commander in chief's ‘bring them
on’ comment regarding Iraqi forces amounted to
taunting the enemy. During a campaign
appearance in Concord, N.H., Rep. Richard A.
Gephardt, Missouri Democrat, said Mr.
Bush's comments were hardly presidential,
and he complained that the president had not
leveled with the American people about how
tough the war's aftermath would be. On
Wednesday, Mr. Bush said American troops under
fire in Iraq aren't about to pull out, and he
challenged those considering attacks on U.S.
forces, saying, ‘Bring them on.’…’He's
president — you don't taunt the enemy,’ Mr.
Gephardt told a group of about 35 at the state
library. ‘You try to keep our troops safe,
you try to help them in what they're doing.
... This phony, macho business is not
getting us where we need to be.’ Administration
officials said Mr. Bush's tone was not meant
to invite attacks on U.S. troops, but rather
to express confidence in the strength of the
U.S. military. One of Mr. Gephardt's
rivals, Sen. John Kerry of
Massachusetts, said Mr. Bush's comment was ‘unwise,
unworthy of the office and his role as
commander in chief, and unhelpful to American
soldiers under fire…The deteriorating
situation in Iraq requires less swagger and
more thoughtfulness and statesmanship.’” (7/5/2003)
…
Teresa Heinz Kerry won’t touch “touchy
issue” about Cape Cod wind farm proposal that
would ruin her ocean view. Headline from
yesterday’s Boston Herald: “Teresa on wind
farm: Ask John” Herald’s Andrew Miga
reported: “Teresa Heinz Kerry, an ardent
and often outspoken environmentalist,
yesterday refused to wade into the controversy
over a proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm - a
potential land mine for her husband's
presidential campaign. ‘Because it's such
a touchy issue and a Massachusetts issue,
she's waiting,’ said her spokeswoman, Chris
Black. ‘On Massachusetts issues, her feeling
is that you should ask (Sen. John F. Kerry).
She has not taken a formal position on the
wind farm.’ Heinz Kerry's reluctance to
take a stand comes as her husband, the
Massachusetts Democrat, faces criticism from
environmentalists, including Greenpeace, for
not backing the 130-turbine windmill farm
seven miles off Cape Cod. Heinz Kerry
appeared to be following the lead of the
senator, who is waiting to take a position
until after the Army Corps of Engineers
completes its environmental study of the Cape
Wind proposal. ‘I would be surprised if, at
the end of the day, her position is not the
same as the senator's position,’ said Black.
‘They are very close on environmental issues
and share a love for the ocean and the New
England coast.’ Kerry, who is running for
president as a strong alternative energy
advocate, must weigh fierce Bay State
opposition to the project against his urgent
need to win liberal Democratic votes in key
primary states where rival Howard Dean
threatens him. Heinz Kerry, one of the
nation's leading philanthropists, has given
generously to environmental causes. She
also owns a mansion on Nantucket's Brant
Point. Cape Wind's plan has sparked a bitter
battle on Cape Cod, where many fear the
40-story-tall turbines across a 24-square-mile
grid could spoil ocean views and ruin tourism.
Advocates say the windmills could
provide more than half of the Cape's
electricity needs without generating any
pollution.”(7/9/2003)
… Kerry,
claiming to be ahead of schedule on
fundraising and organization, shuns early
media blitz – but plans flurry of fall
activities and formal announcement.
Headline from the Boston Globe: “Kerry
campaign opts to pick up pace in fall…Plans
key speech at Old Ironsides” The Globe’s Glen
Johnson, from Nantucket, reports: “Senator
John F. Kerry is planning a burst of campaign
activity this fall, including a formal
announcement speech possibly set against a
backdrop of the USS Constitution, in a
concerted effort to elevate his presidential
candidacy among the Democratic contenders and
cast himself as the party's most credible
alternative to President Bush.
At the conclusion of two days of meetings with
21 top political aides, the Massachusetts
Democrat pronounced himself satisfied with
the state of his campaign and eager to get to
the voting that begins in January. ‘If
someone would have told me two years ago we
would be in the strong position we're in today
for my first national campaign, I would not
have believed it,’ Kerry said in an
interview on the seaside lawn of a summer
vacation home on Nantucket. ‘We're ahead of
schedule in terms of raising money -- we have
more cash on hand than any of the other
candidates -- and we have very strong
ground operations in the early states like
Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, South Carolina…Obviously
there are sort of some message challenges, but
they are normal.’ Kerry refused to
provide details about the outcome of his staff
meetings, but he confirmed that he will
make a public declaration of his presidential
candidacy probably in September or October,
possibly set against the image of the
Constitution in Boston Harbor. The
backdrop of ''Old Ironsides,'' the Navy's
oldest commissioned warship, would not only
pay tribute to the region's history, but the
candidate's unique Navy combat experience…In
Kerry's case, the speech will not only be
aimed at elevating his national profile, but
also distinguishing him from the rest of field.
The campaign is also planning to unveil a
number of high-profile endorsements this fall,
aimed at convincing voters of Kerry's
credibility as a candidate. Those supporters
include Henry Cisneros, a Hispanic who was
housing secretary in the Clinton
administration. He prematurely revealed his
support for Kerry in a recent interview
with a Texas newspaper. Kerry said he and
his aides made no decision about when to begin
advertising in the early-voting states, but he
acknowledged that the topic was discussed at
the meeting. ‘I'm confident that whatever
campaign spends money will go up in numbers''
in public-opinion polls, Kerry said.
Howard Dean, a former governor of
Vermont, saw such results in recent weeks
after he became the first candidate to air TV
commercials. Nonetheless, Kerry said, ‘It's
too early, in my judgment.’”(7/10/2003)
… “Kerry
says more troops from other nations needed in
Iraq” – top New Hampshire Primary headline
from yesterday’s Union Leader. Excerpt of
report from Concord by AP’s Joe Magruder:
“More international troops are needed in Iraq
to ‘win the peace,’ a task American soldiers
there now are not well trained for, Sen. John
Kerry said. Asked at a campaign stop what
he would do about Iraq if he were president
today, the Democratic presidential hopeful
said he would promptly go to NATO and the
United Nations to get troops from other
nations involved in the pacification and
rebuilding effort. Unlike President Bush,
‘I wouldn't have the prideful problem of doing
that,’ Kerry said, a reference to the
administration's strained relations with
allies such as France and Germany during the
buildup to the war. ‘You need to get other
troops in there on the ground in order to
minimize the sense of American occupation and
minimize the danger to American soldiers,’
Kerry said. Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld said in an interview Tuesday with
CNBC that there are now ‘some 43 countries
that are talking to us about various size
deployments’ in Iraq. Kerry spoke to a
supportive crowd of about 150 at a reception
at a home. On a sweltering evening, he stood
on the front porch as the crowd on the lawn
spilled out into the street. He said estimates
vary, but there are about 146,000 U.S. troops
trying to bring order to postwar Iraq. ‘They
need more troops to do this,’ he said,
referring to international forces. ‘One
hundred forty-six thousand ... is not
adequate.’" He defended his vote before
the war to give the president authority to use
force in Iraq if necessary. ‘I believe that I
voted absolutely correctly,’ he said. But he
said Bush failed to plan well enough for the
task facing U.S. soldiers after they toppled
the Iraqi regime. ‘I don't see that plan in
place,’ he said. The Massachusetts senator
brushed off a suggestion that Bush is riding
high despite problems at home and abroad.
Kerry said it's early in the campaign and
there are plenty of signs of discontent with
Bush. He said the key to winning next year
is mobilizing. ‘I'm asking you to join me
in a street army, in a crusade,’ he said.”(7/10/2003)
… “Digging
for dirt? Kerry camp denies scrounging for
skeletons in Dean’s Vt. closet” – Headline
from yesterday’s Boston Herald. Excerpt from
report by Herald’s Andrew Miga: “In the
latest twist to their political feud, Sen.
John F. Kerry's presidential campaign
yesterday flatly denied a published report it
sent staffers to Vermont to dig up dirt on
rival Howard Dean and his wife. ‘The American
Spectator story is a complete fabrication and
we have asked for a retraction,’ said Kerry
spokeswoman Kelley Benander. The
conservative political magazine, quoting an
anonymous Kerry aide, reported last
week that the Bay State Democrat, rattled by
Dean's insurgency, was ‘sending staff
to Vermont to pull together whatever dirt they
can find out about not only Dean but
also his wife, who continues to work as a
physician in the state.’ The article,
noting Dean has refused to say if he performed
abortions on young women he counseled,
asserted that Kerry's research ‘appears to be
focusing on Dean's career as a practicing
physician.’ Staffers from the Spectator
could not be reached for immediate comment.
Dean spokeswoman Dorie Clark said the
former Vermont governor was not aware of any
such effort by the Kerry camp. Benander
confirmed that aides to Kerry, who
hired Clinton White House opposition
researcher Mike Gehrke last spring, have begun
scouring the public backgrounds of Democrats
on the White House campaign trail as well as
President Bush. ‘We are certainly getting up
to speed on the public records of all the
candidates in the race, including our own,’
she said. ‘We also thoroughly scrub John
Kerry's background to prepare him from attacks
from George W. Bush and his right-wing allies.’
Tensions between the Kerry and Dean
campaigns have run high in recent weeks as
Dean has risen among the ranks,
threatening Kerry in New Hampshire and
topping the rest of the Democratic pack in
fund raising for the past quarter.”
(7/11/2003)
… Kerry,
apparently bored with attacks on GWB’s
Iraq/intelligence situation, decides to move
agenda to education – again. Excerpts from
report by the AP’s Will Lester: “Democratic
presidential candidate John Kerry
criticized President Bush on Thursday for
offering slogans and rhetoric about improving
education but failing to provide enough money
to upgrade the nation's schools. ‘I can't
wait to crisscross this country and hold the
president accountable for making a mockery of
the words leave no child behind,’ the
Massachusetts senator told about 3,000
teachers attending a conference of the
American Federation of Teachers. ‘This is the
biggest 'say one thing, do another'
administration that I've seen.’ Kerry said
Bush's tax cuts are making it difficult for
the federal government to support school
programs, and he criticized an administration
proposal to give control for Head Start
preschool programs to the states. ‘Every
single person who knows anything about Head
Start or education understands what they're
really trying to do is put it in a block grant
and shove it off on the states which already
have a lot of problems,’ Kerry said.
The Democrat said administration officials
‘should tell the truth about their intentions,
they ought to tell the truth about a lot of
the things they're doing today.’” (7/11/2003)
… Kerry,
Vietnam hero and Vietnam antiwar activist: “I
learned a long time ago in Vietnam what
happens when pride gets in the way of making
honest decisions.” Headline from
yesterday’s Boston Herald: “Kerry dares
president to ‘tell truth’ about war”
Excerpt from report by the Herald’s Noelle
Straub: “Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday
blasted President Bush for prematurely
declaring an end to the war in Iraq, demanding
the president ‘tell the truth’ as casualties
continue to mount. ‘It's been days since
the president was flown to an aircraft carrier
to announce that hostilities in Iraq had
ended,’ Kerry said. ‘Now, clearly, it's
time for the president to step forward and
tell the truth that the war is continuing and
so are the casualties.’ The Massachusetts
Democrat - seeking to unseat Bush in 2004 -
charged the president with a litany of
mistakes in Iraq, including putting too few
troops in the field, failing to garner more
international support and having no plan for
the war's aftermath. ‘It is time for the
president to tell the truth that we lack
sufficient forces to do the job of
reconstruction in Iraq and withdraw in a
reasonable period,’ he said…The four
steps Kerry said the administration should
take in Iraq are increasing overall troop
strength with allied help, training Iraqi
police more rapidly, laying out a clear plan
for transfer of power to Iraqis, and moving
more quickly to provide such basic services as
electricity and transportation. Kerry
said he stands by his vote approving a
resolution authorizing Bush to use force
against Iraq, regretting only ‘that this
president did such a bad job on diplomacy.’
Kerry said it appears Bush is not
encouraging allies to send troops because he's
taking a ‘prideful road,’ against France and
other countries that did not support the war.
He added, ‘I learned a long time ago in
Vietnam what happens when pride gets in the
way of making honest decisions.’”(7/12/2003)
… At
Hispanic convention in Bush Country – Austin,
Texas – Kerry intensifies attacks on GWB,
promises to “fight” for health coverage for
every child. Excerpt of coverage by AP’s
April Castro yesterday on the Austin
American-Statesman online edition: “On
President Bush's home turf, Democratic hopeful
John Kerry on Sunday lambasted the
president's record on the issues of health
care, education and immigration, while making
a powerful pitch for the sought-after Hispanic
vote. ‘Last election, he promised so much
to win your votes,’ Kerry said. ‘But President
Bush won't be running on his rhetoric this
time, he'll be running on his record.’
Kerry, one of the early front-runners for
the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination,
was a guest speaker at the annual conference
of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic
advocacy group…’This president is accountable
for making a mockery of the words leave no
child behind, ‘ Kerry said, noting that
one in four Hispanic children in the United
States are without health insurance. Kerry
said that, if elected, he would fight to
ensure health coverage for every child.”(7/15/2003)
… Dean vs.
Kerry -- Again: Headline from the Boston
Globe – “Dean, Kerry showdown looms…Leading
Democrats vie for Granite State” Excerpt by
the Globe’s Glen Johnson reported from Concord
about the continuing New Hampshire battle
between the New England neighbors: “Kerry
has led by as many as 12 percentage points,
but Dean's recent success in outraising the
field, with $7.5 million in the quarter that
ended June 30, the Internet and grass-roots
effort that propelled it, and the media
attention it has attracted, have raised the
stakes for Kerry. A near-favorite son
candidate in New Hampshire, Kerry could
be severely wounded by a loss -- or merely a
close victory -- in the Jan. 27 primary,
especially if Dean surpasses him eight
days earlier in the kickoff Iowa caucuses.
Such a one-two punch is at the heart of Dean's
campaign strategy. This has put a target on
his back for all the candidates, especially
Kerry, whose campaign team leaders say they
are confident they can blunt Dean's surge…
Amid that instability, candidates such as
Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of
Connecticut, Representative Richard A.
Gephardt of Missouri, and Senator John
Edwards of North Carolina are increasing
their local campaign appearances, opening
regional offices around the state, and working
phone banks to broaden their ranks of
supporters. ‘Obviously, there's an advantage’
for Kerry and Dean ‘being from
next door, and it may be a challenge, but I
think Joe Lieberman is up to the challenge,’
said a Lieberman spokeswoman, Kristin
Carvell. Peter Greenberger, Lieberman's
New Hampshire state director, added: ‘And it
creates an opportunity for us because it
greatly raises expectations for them.’ In an
interview, Dean also dismissed talk of a
contest confined to him and Kerry. ‘I know
the press wants to do that; I think that's a
mistake,’ the former governor said after a
two-day campaign strategy session in
Burlington, Vt. ‘There are other candidates
who are working very hard, and I know that
hard work matters. I think it's a little too
early to distill it down that far. In the
end, I think it will be more than just me
versus John. I think there will be other
candidates assessed.’ Kerry said
his focus was not on Dean or the other
candidates, but on his own campaign. ‘I'm
going to work very hard at it,’ Kerry
said in an interview on Nantucket, after his
own two-day campaign planning session.
‘There's an ebb and flow to these things, and
you have to be steady. That's what this
process does, part of the test it poses, and
you've just got to go through it.’ In a
monthly opinion survey conducted by the
American Research Group Inc. of Manchester
that asked likely Democratic primary voters
whom they would choose, Kerry and Dean have
split an average of 43 percent of the vote
over the first half of the year. In June,
Kerry led with 28 percent and Dean was second
with 18 percent.”(7/15/2003)
Neither
Dean nor Kerry likes to admit
how much each stands in the other's path to
the nomination, although the regular potshots
between their staffs prove that reality.
Dean said there are no hard feelings
between the men, although their earlier
engagement suggested there is hostility
coupled with annoyance. ‘There's certainly
no animosity -- certainly on my side,’
Dean said last week between fundraising
calls at his Burlington, Vt., office. Kerry,
asked about Dean during an interview at
The Washington Post on Thursday, refused to be
drawn into a discussion about how the Dean
insurgency has affected his own
candidacy.(7/16/2003)
… Kerry
says administration is “big on bluster and
short on action” in remarks at vets memorial
hall in NYC. Headline from Boston Herald
online yesterday: “Kerry says Bush hasn’t
matched rhetoric, actions” Excerpts from
AP report: “Democratic presidential
candidate John Kerry says President
Bush hasn't matched tough rhetoric with strong
actions and is suffering from a credibility
gap on national security. ‘The gap between
America's national security and this
administration's deeds is widening every day,'’
Kerry said in remarks prepared for
delivery at a veterans' memorial hall in New
York City Wednesday. ‘Americans have a
right to ask: Are we safer today than we were
on Sept. 11?’ Kerry asked. ‘Are
our nation's firefighters and police officers
better prepared to wage the war on terror?’
The Massachusetts senator said the Bush
administration has shortchanged police and
firefighters by denying them ‘the equipment
and support to defend America from danger. We
cannot afford to leave the front lines of home
security without the resources they need any
more than we can afford to leave our soldiers
vulnerable to attack in Iraq,’ he said.
Appearing on NBC's ‘Today’ show in advance of
the speech, Kerry was asked whether he
thought the United States was more safe than
before the Sept. 11 terror attacks. ‘In
airline security and a few other things we
are,’ he replied, ‘but we haven't done what we
need to do for what the president and others
have said is inevitable. They say there is an
evitability of attack.’…’We shouldn't be
opening firehouses in Baghdad while closing
them in Brooklyn,’ Kerry said.
Americans should trust the intelligence that
guides them into war, he said. Calling the
Bush administration ‘big on bluster and short
on action,’ Kerry said combative rhetoric not
matched by stronger homeland security is
dangerous. And he called for more
international help in policing Iraq.” Among
specific criticisms of the Bush administration
Kerry cited during his comments:
Going to war with Iraq without a ‘plan to win
the peace.’ …Stalling investigations of
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks…Failing to
invest enough in the police, fire and
emergency workers responsible for the safety
of the homeland. (7/17/2003)
… Get used
to this rhetoric – Kerry tests new anti-Bush
strategy (and themes) during an off-Broadway
performance in NYC. Headline from
yesterday’s Boston Globe: “Criticism of
Bush intensifies” Excerpt from New York
report by unfortunate Globe staffer Glen
Johnson (who will have to endure this Kerry
craziness over coming weeks): “Senator
John F. Kerry yesterday attacked President
Bush's credibility over his statements
justifying the war with Iraq and professing a
commitment to homeland security, as the
Massachusetts Democrat opened what aides said
would be a broader challenge to the Republican
incumbent's truthfulness. In the coming
weeks, the Democratic presidential contender
also plans to challenge Bush's credibility on
economic, education, and other issues, arguing
that the president's deeds have not matched
his promises. The new campaign tack builds
on a news conference Kerry held last week
calling on Bush to ‘tell the truth that the
war is continuing and so are the casualties.’
In the speech yesterday at the Bronx County
Building, Kerry told an audience
including several New York City firefighters
that Bush had failed to live up to promises to
strengthen homeland security in the aftermath
of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Kerry complained that police officers and
firefighters are being laid off, labor rules
are being changed by the administration to cut
their overtime pay, and basic needs such as
adequate numbers of radios, breathing
equipment, and specialized tools to search a
collapsed building are going unmet. Kerry
labeled the difference between where the
country is and where it needs to be in terms
of homeland security as ‘the preparedness
gap.’”(7/18/2003)
…
“Kerry questions Bush’s integrity” –
Headline from yesterday’s Des Moines Register.
Excerpts from Mount Pleasant report by
the Register’s Thomas Beaumont:
“Democratic presidential candidate John
Kerry said Friday the controversy about the
Bush administration's use of flawed
intelligence before the war in Iraq is just
one of several White House blunders leading up
to the war. ‘This is not about 16 words,’
Kerry, a U.S. senator from
Massachusetts, said before a campaign stop in
Mount Pleasant. Kerry was
referring to a passage in President Bush's
State of the Union speech in January that the
White House acknowledged this month was
untrue. Bush asserted that the British
government had intelligence showing that Iraq
sought nuclear weapons material in Africa. ‘This
is about the overall approach to the war and
the question of whether or not a lot of the
intelligence was accurate,’ Kerry
said. CIA Director George Tenet has taken
responsibility for failing to stop the passage
about Africa from getting into the speech.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair stood by the
report Thursday, calling it ‘sound
intelligence.’ Kerry and rival Democrat
Howard Dean, who also campaigned Friday
in Iowa, scoffed at Blair's statement. But
Dean, the former governor of Vermont, said
Kerry and three other Democrats seeking the
2004 nomination bear some responsibility for
the Bush mistake because they supported the
war. Dean opposed the war. U.S.
Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, U.S.
Sens. Kerry, John Edwards of
North Carolina and Joseph Lieberman of
Connecticut voted for the resolution in
Congress last fall that gave Bush authority to
attack Iraq. ‘I want to know why the four
fellows I'm running against swallowed it hook,
line and sinker, if I could figure it out from
Vermont,’ said Dean, who completed
a two-day Iowa visit with stops around Des
Moines…Kerry has said he based
his vote on intelligence, but declined to say
whether the questions had prompted him to
reconsider the decision. ‘I know that the
statements of the administration, the
certitude of the existence of weapons . . .
all those things have not panned out,’ he
said. ‘Something's off here.’ Kerry has
accused Bush of misleading Americans by his
use of some suspect prewar intelligence. He
broadened the attack Friday to also accuse
Bush of breaking promises to create jobs and
control spending, citing rising unemployment
and a record federal budget deficit.
‘There is an enormous credibility issue about
this administration and this president, not
just about 16 words,’ he told about 75
activists during a stop at a Burlington union
hall Friday. ‘The gap is about all the
promises to the American people.’”(7/20/2003)
… “Kerry blames Bush for cuts, economy
during visit to Q-C” – Headline in
yesterday’s Quad-City Times. Excerpt from
Kathie Obradovich’s report on Kerry’s
campaign stop in Bettendorf: “Massachusetts
Sen. John Kerry told Quad-City
Democrats Saturday that he blames the
president’s tax cuts for the plight of working
people. ‘The one person in the United States
of America who deserves to be laid off is
George W. Bush,’ Kerry told a capacity
crowd of about 150 at the United Steel Workers
of America hall. Kerry, one of nine
candidates seeking the Democratic nomination
for president, laid the nation’s economic woes
at the feet of the president’s tax cuts and
the national deficit. “We could put people
back to work in America tomorrow if we weren’t
forcing governors to cut services and raise
taxes for a ... national deficit while we give
$350 billion in dividends tax cuts to the
wealthiest Americans,’ he said. He said
the war in Iraq wouldn’t distract Americans
from economic issues, even as he poked fun
at Bush’s post-war appearance on an aircraft
carrier. ‘Having a Navy pilot land you on
an aircraft carrier in a borrowed suit does
not make up for losing three million jobs,’
he said. Kerry said later that his
sister, Diana, a middle-school teacher in
Boston, was laid off last week. ‘Why are we
laying off teachers in the United States of
America? Because George Bush wants to give the
richest Americans a tax cut? Shame on us,’
he said, his voice rising. In an interview, he
said he wasn’t angry about his sister, but
about the lack of support for teachers across
the country. ‘It’s not fair for me to get
upset just because my sister is in a plight.
It’s just that it’s representative, and she
just happens to be a teacher,’ he said. ‘I’m
just upset about teachers across the country
that are being laid off. It’s not the way to
reflect our commitment to education in the
country,’ he said. ‘It just happens to be
in our family, too.’ Kerry told the
Quad-City crowd that his plans to create jobs
include a payroll tax holiday for working
people, an increase in the personal tax
exemption and a rewriting of trade agreements
with other countries.”(7/21/2003)
Kerry plays
political catch-up – says the current
administration is the “single
most say-one-thing-do another administration”
during his 19 years in Congress. Headline
from yesterday’s Daily Iowan (University of
Iowa), which published for the first time
since Kerry’s weekend campaign swing.
Excerpts from report the DI’s Annie Shuppy
filed from Anamosa: “A Democratic
presidential hopeful made his case for greater
accountability in American leadership
[Saturday] to a group of supporters.
Sen. John
Kerry, D-Mass., told a crowd of 75 at the
National Motorcycle Museum that the U.S.
economy, education system, and foreign policy
are in need of remedy. The 59-year-old
former prosecutor contended that President
Bush's leadership has left millions jobless
and has compromised security both at home and
abroad. ‘This
administration is the single most
say-one-thing-do-another administration in the
19 years I've been in the Senate,’ said
Kerry, who was first elected in 1984. ‘We
are six months away [from the caucuses] at a
moment when Iowa has the opportunity to set
this country on a different course.’
Kerry
defended his congressional vote authorizing
the use of force against Iraq, but he
criticized the way Bush has carried out his
responsibility. Like Rep. Dick Gephardt,
D-Mo., Kerry, who has served 18 years
on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and
six years on the Senate Intelligence
Committee, said he advocated securing support
from the United Nations before invading Iraq.
‘My vote was
100-percent correct based on the information
we were given and intelligence reports,’
Kerry said…The decorated Vietnam
veteran touted his ability to create jobs,
make the United States less dependent on
foreign oil, and formulate a health-care
system that will ensure coverage for everyone.
He also said he will strive to bring security
back to America and reform a ‘separate but
unequal’ school system that depends on a
property-tax base.”(7/22/2003)
…
“Kerry’s defense would be outright
laughable if offered for, say, a budgetary
issue.” – sentence from Daily Iowa
(University of Iowa) editorial. Headline from
the DI editorial: “Kerry, Dems passing the
buck like Bush” Editorial excerpts: “It
seems everyone is eager to cut bait from the
exaggerated and manufactured evidence
concerning Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
As more evidence surfaced destroying the
veracity of the Bush administration's
fear-inspiring intelligence on the Iraqi
threat, President Bush and his staff began
passing the blame to the British intelligence
and CIA Director George Tenet. And during
last weekend's Eastern Iowa campaign stop,
Democratic candidate John Kerry told members
of the DI editorial board that he stood ‘100
percent’ by his vote in support of military
action in Iraq earlier this year but qualified
it with his own passed blame by saying his
vote was ‘based on the information I had at
the time.’ Kerry's defense allows him to
retain his now seemingly antiwar campaign
message while defending his middle-of-the-road
and politically safe actions earlier this
year. Other Democrats, including Rep. Dick
Gephardt, D- Mo., have similarly talked out of
both sides of their mouth to fault the Bush
administration while defending their own
actions. The Bush administration's
haphazard acceptance of questionable
information is understandable, because the
faulty information forwarded its agenda. Even
if all members of the upper echelon in the
Bush administration knew the intelligence
information regarding Iraq's attempts to
purchase uranium was questionable at best,
they had reason to stand behind it and hope
real evidence surfaced before the faulty was
revealed. While that kind of manipulation and
deception is inexcusable, it is
understandable. If the motivation behind
Kerry's vote lies squarely on the same bad
information for which Bush is bucking all
responsibility, he has actually done a greater
disservice than those who deliberately
deceive. Kerry is a four-term
senator and a member of the opposition party
that lacked cohesion and credibility leading
up to the war. He owed it to his colleagues
and constituents to examine the credibility of
the information before giving the go-ahead for
military force. By passing off
responsibility for that to ‘the information I
had at the time,’ he fails in his duty to his
party and his constituents. In electing
our leaders, we put a great deal of
responsibility as well as faith in the people
sent to public office. Kerry and his staff
should have done more research and proceeded
more thoughtfully before casting such a
crucial vote. Kerry's defense would be
outright laughable if offered for, say, a
budgetary issue. It is difficult to
imagine him saying, ‘I voted for tax relief
for the wealthy because the president said it
was a good idea, and I trusted him. He misled
me and the American people.’ It seems to be a
contagious political plague lately for our
leaders to want their cake and eat it, too.
Kerry abandoned his party during a crucial
turning point and later jumped on the
anti-Bush and antiwar bandwagon. Either Kerry
needs to clarify his campaign message, or he
owes his constituents an apology for voting
before thinking.”(7/23/2003)
…
Apparently Kerry hasn’t spotted the error of
his ways and launches another volley at the
President. The Union Leader, in a
headline, offers a reason why Kerry is
intensifying his anti-Bush rhetoric: “Pressured
by anti-war wing, Kerry escalates Bush attacks”
Another headline from yesterday’s Washington
Times: “Bush sidestepped process on war in
Iraq, Kerry says” Excerpt from the Times
coverage by Amy Fagan: “Democratic
presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry yesterday
said President Bush ‘circumvented’ the process
laid out in the congressional resolution
authorizing action against Iraq, which Mr.
Kerry supported in the Senate last year. Mr.
Kerry, of Massachusetts, said the
president promised to build the international
coalition, work through the United Nations and
go to war as a last resort. ‘It is clear
now that he didn't do that sufficiently,’
Mr. Kerry told reporters in a telephone
conference call yesterday. He said the Iraq
war resolution supported Mr. Bush exhausting
diplomatic efforts before going to war, and
working through the United Nations. ‘The
president circumvented that process,’ he
said…Mr. Kerry defended his Senate
vote in favor of the Iraq resolution, however,
saying it was the right vote, ‘based on the
information that we were given.’ He
said he voted for it with the expectation that
the United States would build an international
coalition and exhaust other remedies before
attacking. He said he was not voting to
give Mr. Bush permission ‘to make an end run
around the United Nations.’ White House
spokeswoman Claire Buchan said all efforts
were exhausted and the administration did
indeed work through the United Nations.
Though the U.N. Security Council did not pass
a resolution authorizing the war in Iraq, Miss
Buchan pointed to the U.N. resolution passed
by the Security Council in November of last
year, which gave Iraq a final opportunity to
comply with its disarmament obligations. ‘After
12 years of Saddam Hussein's defiance of the
world and 17 U.N. resolutions, the president
determined it was imperative to act,’ she
said. Miss Buchan also said there was an
international coalition of countries involved
in the war. Christine Iverson, spokeswoman for
the Republican National Committee, said Mr.
Kerry should be more direct on the
issue. ‘If Senator Kerry regrets his vote
to remove Saddam Hussein, he should just say
so. If Senator Kerry would change his vote to
remove Saddam Hussein, he should just say so.
If Senator Kerry is embarrassed by his vote
because it's unpopular with the antiwar base
of his party, he should just say so,’ she said. Mr.
Kerry again called for an investigation
into the intelligence surrounding the decision
to go to war with Iraq. But he said his
primary concern at this point is ensuring that
we "win the peace" there. To do this, Mr.
Kerry said, the administration needs to build
an international force in Iraq, which it has
not done. He said there are 147,000
American troops in Iraq right now and only
13,000 troops from other countries. ‘We need
to internationalize this. We need to do it
now. We need to do it openly,’ he said. He
said some countries would like to help, but
want to do so under a U.N. mandate. ‘I know
for a fact that there are countries prepared
to be helpful’ if they were acting under the
United Nations, he said.”(7/23/2003)
… Re
Kerry’s “Iraqgate” initiative: Campaign --
and life – to be more interesting for Kerry
after Washington Times’ columnist McCaslin
revives 11/17/97 account about Kerry’s concern
about Saddam’s “stockpile of weapons of mass
destruction.”
Under the subhead “Kerry’s War,”
John McCaslin wrote in his “Inside the
Beltway” column in yesterday’s Washington
Times: “Suffice it to say that Democratic
presidential hopeful John Kerry has made
‘Iraqgate’ the theme of his campaign. On
virtually every stump he's stood on this week,
the Massachusetts Democrat has complained that
President Bush sidestepped the congressionally
approved path to war by bypassing the United
Nations, by not building an international
coalition, and simply by not doing what it was
that he had promised to do (actually, one
could argue that the senator is wrong on all
three counts). Forget that Mr. Kerry
voted in favor of the Iraq war resolution. He
did so, he now says, with the understanding
that Mr. Bush would exhaust every remedy
first. What was the big hurry, in other
words. But let's revisit Nov. 17, 1997,
when nobody else in Washington except the
Inside the Beltway column led with an item
headlined, ‘Finish the mission.’…’Debate
on whether to take out Saddam Hussein, the
Iraqi strongman, is over as far as one
Democratic senator is concerned,’ or so we
had written. ‘Sen. John Kerry of
Massachusetts is calling for a 'strong'
military attack in response to the Iraqi
leader's 'horrific objective of amassing a
stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.'’ Weapons
of mass destruction? That's what Mr. Kerry
called them…'This should not be a
strike consisting only of a handful of cruise
missiles hitting isolated targets primarily of
presumed symbolic value. But how long this
military action might continue and how it may
escalate ... and how extensive it would reach
are for the [White House National] Security
Council and our allies to know and for Saddam
Hussein to find out!' Just as you wished,
Senator.”(7/24/2003)
… “Dean’s
Web-a-thon reaches $5 million” – Headline
from yesterday’s Union Leader. Excerpt from AP
report: “Democratic Presidential hopeful
Howard Dean’s Web-a-thon goes on: Dean’s
campaign announced yesterday that it has
collected more than $5 million over the
Internet so far this year. The former
Vermont governor’s campaign is the first in
the 2004 Presidential race to hit that level
of Internet fundraising. Dean took in
about $802,000 in a day-long Web drive last
month to boost his second-quarter fundraising
to more than $7 million. His campaign posted a
real-time total throughout the day on June 30,
the end of the last fundraising period, and
urged contributors to give more to increase
the amount. Dean has raised at least
$775,000 over the Internet so far this month,
spokeswoman Tricia Enright said.” (7/24/2003)
… Headline of
the day from the Washington Times: “3
Democrats risk black vote again” The Urban
League might as well schedule some time later
for Lieberman, Graham and Kerry
to show up to offer their apologies for not
showing up in the first place. Excerpts from
coverage by the Times’ Steve Miller: “Three
Democratic presidential hopefuls have not
agreed to appear at the National Urban
League's annual convention in Pittsburgh next
week, putting them at risk of again being
distanced from black voters, an overwhelmingly
Democratic bloc. President Bush and six
Democrats have committed to speak at the
nationally renowned black group's convention
Monday, the first gathering that includes
both the Democratic aspirants and the
president. Democratic Sens. Joe
Lieberman of Connecticut, Bob Graham of
Florida and John Kerry of Massachusetts have
not committed. ‘It's a great platform for
Democrats, and it will give Bush an
opportunity to give a record of what he did in
Africa,’ said Donna Brazile, who heads the
Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights
Institute. ‘This is a very important speech to
give, this is not a sound bite. And if they
will be following Bush, they will be able to
critique his speech.’ Democratic sources
yesterday said several candidates had opted
out of the gala until Sunday when The
Washington Times reported that Mr. Bush would
attend. ‘All of them wanted to go, and
some had already set the wheels in motion for
it, but [the president´s appearance] made it
more important,’ said one Democrat, who spoke
on the condition of anonymity. Several calls
to the campaigns of Mr. Graham, Mr.
Lieberman and Mr. Kerry were not
returned. Al Sharpton and Carol
Moseley Braun, the two black candidates in
the Democratic field, and Sen. John Edwards
of North Carolina pledged to appear at least a
week ago. A spokeswoman for the Urban League
said that ‘in the last couple of days,’ Rep.
Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio and Rep.
Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri and
former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean had
confirmed they would address the convention on
Monday. The Democratic candidates who will
not attend are aware of the fallout. Last
week, leaders of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People were
outraged that Mr. Lieberman, Mr.
Kucinich and Mr. Gephardt did not
participate in a candidates forum at their
convention in Miami Beach, Fla.”(7/25/2003)
… The New York
numbers are in – Bush $3.1 million,
Kerry $1.7 million, Lieberman $1.4 million,
Edwards $1.2 million, Sharpton $14,010.
From DC, AP’s Devlin Barrett writes about NY
and related fundraising numbers: “New
Yorkers have given more than $6 million to
Democratic presidential contenders in the
first half of 2003, but home state candidate
Al Sharpton has received just $14,010.
Nationally, Sharpton lags far behind
the big-name candidates in fund-raising, but
the disparity only grows within New York,
according to figures from the Center for
Responsive Politics (CRP). In the first half
of 2003, according to the CRP, Sen. John
Kerry led among New York Democratic donors
with $1.7 million, followed by Connecticut's
Sen. Joe Lieberman with $1.4 million,
and John Edwards of North Carolina with
$1.2 million. Coming in fourth was former
Vermont governor Howard Dean, with
$844,749 followed by Rep. Dick Gephardt
of Missouri with $804,501. Sen. Bob Graham
of Florida collected just under $100,000. New
York is a key fund-raising state for both
parties. President Bush has taken in nearly
$3.1 million, figures show. Sharpton's
relatively tiny $14,010 beats out only Carol
Moseley Braun, a former U.S. Senator from
Illinois who took in $5,750 from New Yorkers,
according to the CRP. The largest share of
Sharpton's money comes from Michigan,
specifically the Detroit area, which
contributed $36,000, followed by Pennsylvania
with $17,000. New York state is third on the
list, counting for just 11 percent of his
campaign money. He has raised a little more
than $184,000 nationwide. The activist's
campaign manager, Frank Watkins, said the
numbers show Sharpton ‘made the most
mileage with the least amount of fuel.’”(7/25/2003)
…
Dean-Kerry War Report: In efforts to
promote his ideas, Kerry faces “one formidable
obstacle” – Dean. Headline from Friday’s
Boston Globe: “Dean won’t let Kerry off the
hook” Excerpts from commentary by the
Globe’s Scot Lehigh: “It’s time to focus on
how best to build a democracy in Iraq, Bill
Clinton said on CNN this week. And as he runs
for president, John Kerry would clearly
love to do just that. In a conference call
with reporters on Monday, the Massachusetts
senator tried. Citing his Vietnam War
experience, he called upon the Bush
administration to put aside ‘false pride’ and
seek help from both NATO and the UN in Iraq.
But in attempting to shift campaign
attention from the decision to wage the war to
his ideas for winning the peace, Kerry faces
one formidable obstacle: former Vermont
governor Howard Dean. Dean insists
that his campaign isn't based on contrasting
his antiwar stance with the prowar positions
of his leading Democratic rivals but rather on
balancing the budget and jump-starting the
economy. Still, Tuesday found him holding a
New Hampshire event to criticize the
Democratic candidates who voted for the
October congressional resolution authorizing
force in Iraq. ‘There are four candidates
who voted for this,’ Dean said in an
interview. ‘What I am not going to do is allow
those four candidates to try to pretend they
did something different in October from what
they did.’…Although Dean doesn't single
Kerry out, there's no mistaking his principal
target; the example the Vermonter offers
is a close approximation of the senator's
rhetoric. Meanwhile, Dean is using his
own antiwar stand to lay claim to the very
leadership quality Kerry's campaign
boasts of in their man: a tough-minded,
probing independence that prompts him to ask
the right questions and arrive at difficult
but correct decisions…For their part,
Kerry aides point to a number of Dean's prewar
statements that sound like the senator's own,
comments in which Dean said he thought
Saddam might well have biochemical weapons and
that he needed to be disarmed. (It's important
to note, however, that Dean also said
that absent clear evidence of a threat to the
United States, he did not see the case for
''unilateral'' action in Iraq.) Convinced that
their own candidate has locked up a spot in
the campaign's first tier, Kerry's
strategists are content to see Dean claim a
place there as well, believing that his
candidacy stunts those that might otherwise
develop into more-formidable contenders.
Certainly Dean owns the current non-Kerry
campaign energy. But it may be a mistake to
underestimate his staying power. Whatever
the initial implausibility of a tiny-state
candidate, Dean daily proves himself smart
and nimble - and determined to exploit an
issue that has been his own ticket to the top
tier. The Vermonter should forgo attacks on
his fellow Democrats, follow Kerry's
lead, and focus on winning the peace, objects
Jim Jordan, Kerry's campaign manager.
Yet he seems resigned that the summer
skirmishes prefigure an eventual clash between
the two New Englanders. ‘We are happy in
... the coming months to have an ongoing
debate with Dr. Dean about which candidate is
most knowledgeable about foreign and military
affairs, about which candidate will keep this
country strong and safe, and about which
candidate is most fit to serve as commander in
chief,’ said Jordan. Look for that debate
to be intense, energetic, and well argued - on
both sides.”(7/27/2003)
… Kerry, in
broadcast to be aired today, brings up the
Q-word – quagmire – in discussing Iraq, but
refuses to pull trigger on an outright hit on
U. S. troops or GWB. In typical Kerry fashion,
he tried to find middle ground on the war
situation – while Dean goes directly to the
credibility issues. Headline from
yesterday’s Register: “Kerry: Iraq a
potential quagmire…He criticizes postwar
planning, while Dean questions Bush’s
credibility” Excerpts from report by
Register’s Beaumont: “Democratic
presidential candidate John Kerry drew a
parallel Friday between postwar Iraq and
wartime Vietnam, but stopped short of
declaring that U.S. troops had become bogged
down in Iraq. ‘Our soldiers are being lost
every day in Iraq because we didn't have a
plan in place in order to secure it properly,’
the Massachusetts senator said during a taping
of Iowa Public Television's ‘Iowa Press.’ ‘The
question is how many young Americans have to
die in the process of getting it right.’
Kerry's appearance on ‘Iowa Press,’ which airs
Sunday, was the first event of a two-day
campaign swing through Iowa, where
precinct caucuses in January start the 2004
presidential nominating season. Afterward,
Kerry told reporters that post-war Iraq
had ‘not yet’ become a quagmire, but added,
‘It's possible that it could develop there, if
there isn't a wisdom applied to these next
months of decisions.’ The war has been a
leading issue in the early campaign for the
Democratic nomination. Kerry is among
four candidates who voted last year in
Congress to authorize President Bush to order
the attack. The other five candidates in the
field opposed the war. Kerry also
campaigned in Ames, where he met with a
dozen business leaders at an Italian
restaurant and later addressed about 150
Democratic activists at a furniture store. He
also campaigned in Marshalltown and
addressed the convention of American
Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees in Des Moines on Friday
evening. Kerry, a Vietnam veteran, has
accused Bush of misrepresenting intelligence
about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction
before the war to bolster the administration's
case for war. He recently broadened the
attack to question Bush's credibility on
domestic policy issues. ‘I believe the
credibility of having a tax cut and not having
deficits has been destroyed,’ Kerry
said. ‘I can run down a long list where the
credibility of this administration is at
issue.’ Rival candidate Howard Dean,
the former governor of Vermont, has said Bush
misled Americans before the war, which Dean
opposed. Friday, he took a tone similar to
Kerry's, attacking Bush's credibility on
domestic policy during the second day of a
two-day Iowa campaign swing. ‘My attitude
is the president's lack of credibility on the
war has opened up our ability to question his
credibility on domestic issues as well,’
Dean said from Osceola. ‘We now
find there are numerous times where he has
said one thing and made promises that he's not
only not kept but done the opposite,’ he said.
‘He claims tax cuts would create jobs. Instead
we have 3 million that we've lost.’ Dean also
addressed the AFSCME convention in Des
Moines on Friday evening.”(7/27/2003)
… “Kerry
Blasts Bush on 911 Report, Saudis…Democratic
Candidate Campaigning in Carroll” –
Headline from KCCI-TV (Des Moines)
online. Excerpt from report on Kerry’s
visit to western Iowa yesterday: “Massachusetts
Sen. John Kerry is calling on President George
W. Bush to make public a section of a report
of an investigation into the ties between
Saudi Arabia and terrorist networks.
Kerry spoke Tuesday during a campaign stop
in Carroll. He said his proposal is
timed to coincide with the president's
meetings with Saudi officials in Washington.
He said it's an opportunity for Bush to make
the record clear. The Saudis have called
on Bush to release the report as well, saying
it will show they have no ties to terrorism.
The Bush administration has declined, saying
that would interfere with ongoing
investigations. At the same time, Kerry
said the U.S. is hamstrung by its reliance on
Saudi oil, which weakens America's ability to
influence events in the region. He said it's
time for the U.S. to develop energy
independence.”(7/30/2003)
… In Iowa,
Kerry blasts Bush for “trickle down economics”
and sets new standard for size of crowd and
enthusiasm during Sioux City visit.
Headline from yesterday’s Sioux City Journal:
“Kerry critical of Bush economic ‘trickle’
policies” Excerpts from coverage by the
Journal’s Bret Hayworth: “Citing the
‘extreme’ Bush administration as ripe for
ouster, Democratic Party presidential
candidate John Kerry said the recent tax cuts
need to be scaled back for so many more things
that America needs.
The
Massachusetts senator said the tax cuts only
help ‘the wealthiest Americans,’ while
endeavors in education, health care and
transportation are left wanting.
Kerry
said President Bush should know better than to
put forth the tired platform of ‘trickle down
economics,’ with the theory that tax cuts to
the richest will make their way down to the
working class. In a dig that drew cheers
from the crowd at the Elks Lodge No. 112 in
Sioux City, Kerry opined that ‘everybody I
meet is kind of tired about being trickled on
by George W. Bush.’
Kerry said with 3 million jobs lost
since Bush took office in January 2001, the
worst growth rate since World War II and with
the administration turning a federal budget
surplus into record deficits now estimated at
$475 billion, Bush has ‘the worst economic
record since Herbert Hoover was the
president.’ Said Kerry, ‘The only thing
that George W. Bush has created is the nine of
us running for president... It ought to be
clear that the person who needs to be laid off
is George W. Bush.’ Kerry said no
true conservative Republican would back the
fiscal irresponsibility of such deficits.
Kerry said as president he would repeal
the tax cut to those with incomes over
$200,000…The new standard for size of crowd
and enthusiasm in a Sioux City 2004 public
campaign stop belongs to Kerry. Since the
first stumping in mid-March by Rep. Dick
Gephardt, Kerry holds the high-water mark for
Democrats following Monday evening's
festive gathering of 210 Siouxlanders at the
Elks Lodge. Lots of the attendees wanted
pictures with the senator.”(7/30/2003)
Kerry
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