 San Antonio police laugh as Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., climbs on one of their motorcycles prior to his departure at the airport in San Antonio Saturday, March 6, 2004 (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) |
Posted on 03/06/2004 6:17:50 PM PST by NormsRevenge
HOUSTON -
Challenging President Bush (news - web sites) on his home turf Saturday, John Kerry (news - web sites) decried a "four-year trail of broken promises" that he said have left economic ruin and given free rein to corporate polluters. Not far away, Bush defended his handling of the economy and suggested that Kerry's proposals would raise taxes.
Kerry was broadening his populist economic themes to challenge Bush on the environment and his handling of conflicts abroad as the president sought to cast himself as a world leader in a summit with Mexico's president, Vicente Fox (news - web sites). The two presidential rivals traced early outlines of a coming economic fight that is likely to be central to the campaign.
"George Bush is a walking contradiction and a walking barrel of broken promises," Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, said to several hundred supporters at a community college.
Speaking with reporters at his Crawford, Texas, ranch, 206 miles from Kerry's event in Houston, Bush said "our economy is getting stronger" and challenged Kerry — though not by name.
"Raising taxes will make it harder for people to find work," Bush said. Kerry has called for repealing the portions of Bush's tax cut that went to wealthy taxpayers, a move that Bush characterizes as a tax increase.
Kerry fired back quickly, using a San Antonio rally to contend Bush has "already departed from the truth."
"Once again President Bush has told one of those tall Texas tales," he said. "I think George Bush ought to leave the ranch and come out and talk to people who have lost their jobs."
Kerry casts his economic proposal in terms of using proceeds of a canceled tax break for the wealthy to pay for crucial education and health programs that have suffered under Bush's watch.
"The people I've met here in Texas and all across America aren't asking for much," Kerry said at a town-hall style meeting. "All they want is a government that honors their values and helps them build a better life."
Kerry sought to personalize his populist economic theme, listening to stories from local residents who said they've suffered because of deep cuts in programs Kerry argued have been battered under Bush's watch.
The Massachusetts senator sought to underscore his message by pointing out economic pressures that have hit Texas with a loss of 84,000 jobs.
"Houston, we've got a problem," he said.
While Kerry sought to make the economy the main focus of his four-day Southern swing, he also made it clear he'll challenge Bush on the president's conduct of the war in Iraq (news - web sites), using his background as a decorated veteran to claim credibility.
At a stop in San Antonio, Kerry was to meet with a woman who lost her son in Iraq.
"The first definition of patriotism is keeping faith with those who have worn the uniform of the country," said Kerry, who argued in the Democrats' weekly radio address that Bush has not given the troops sufficient logistical support.
That drew an immediate response from Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel, who said Kerry's charge was "the latest example of his astonishing ability to say one thing and do another." He accused Kerry of voting against money to pay for the troops.
In Houston, Kerry derided Bush's new television ads that promote his re-election as the man who led the country safely through perilous times.
"About the only promise we can expect George W. Bush to keep this time around is his pledge of steady leadership," said Kerry. "He has no problem campaigning on the same failed economic policies that have steadily led America into economic decline."
Just days after forcing the last of his rivals from the race for the Democratic nomination, Kerry was seeking to show the flag in the South, probably his toughest region in which to build support. He was spending Saturday in Texas before flying to Mississippi.
While few argue seriously that the president's home state or reliably Republican Mississippi are up for grabs in the November election, campaign aides said Kerry was making the point that he'll compete everywhere. He was heading later to Florida, a crucial swing state.
Kerry argues that his focus on jobs and the economy will sell in all regions, but the issue of Iraq and the war on terror injected itself into the fray on Saturday.
San Antonio police laugh as Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., climbs on one of their motorcycles prior to his departure at the airport in San Antonio Saturday, March 6, 2004 (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) |
U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) speaks to reporters during a joint news
conference with Mexico's President Vicente Fox (news - web sites) on Bush's ranch
Saturday, March 6, 2004 in Crawford, Texas. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) waves to supporters after speaking at a campaign fund-raising luncheon in Santa Clara, California, March 4, 2004.
Earlier in Bakersfield, Bush said America must 'fight off economic isolation' as he touted the benefits of free trade in California, a big agricultural state that is home to some of the nation's busiest ports.
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry (news - web sites) (D-Ma) pumps his fists at the crowd in front of a lone star Texas state flag at a rally in the La Villita Historic Village in downtown San Antonio, Texas March 6, 2004. Kerry is campaigning in Texas as he continues his quest for the Democratic presidential nomination on the heels of his Super Tuesday wins, which moved him closer to clinching the Democratic presidential nomination. REUTERS/Jim Bourg US ELECTION
EXCUUSE ME! The President *is* a world leader. Whether he wants to be or not.
I guess this much bias in reporting comforts the clintoon folk, but surely only the hard-core. This is just too silly.
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