US President George W. Bush (news - web sites)(R) greets members of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Union as he tours their Turbine Training Facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.(AFP/Paul J. Richards)
Posted on 08/12/2004 1:12:41 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
LAS VEGAS, United States (AFP) - Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) spearheaded a fresh attack on Democratic White House hopeful John Kerry (news - web sites), mocking him for vowing to rally allies to a "more sensitive" war on terrorism.
US President George W. Bush (news - web sites), meanwhile, visited Las Vegas two days after Kerry stumped for votes here and was poised to campaign in heavily Democratic California with its popular Republican Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites).
Cheney kicked off a nasty back-and-forth by deriding Kerry's pledge last week to wage "a more effective, more thoughtful, more strategic, more proactive, more sensitive war on terror that reaches out to other nations."
"A 'sensitive war' will not destroy the evil men who killed 3,000 Americans and who seek the chemical, nuclear and biological weapons to kill hundreds of thousands more," he said in a reference to the September 11 terrorist strikes.
"The people who beheaded (Wall Street Journal reporter) Daniel Pearl and (US contractor) Paul Johnson will not be impressed by our sensitivity," the vice president said in the crucial battleground state of Ohio.
The Kerry campaign swung into action, charging that Cheney had deliberately twisted the Massachusetts senator's comments and accusing Bush of weakening the war on terrorism by alienating allies.
What "Dick Cheney doesn't understand is that arrogance isn't a virtue, especially when our country is in danger. Alienating allies makes it harder to hunt terrorists and bring them justice," said Kerry spokesman Phil Singer.
Kerry has made patching up ties with traditional allies who did not support the March 2003 invasion of Iraq (news - web sites) a key theme of his foreign policy message, saying this will help bring US troops home more quickly.
"I think that diplomacy should be tried first" while military action ought to be the "last option," Bush said at a Las Vegas rally with one of the rare unions that may back his reelection bid.
"Knowing what I know today I would have made the same decision" to attack iraq, said the president, who was to head to Los Angeles for a fundraiser, aided by the star power of Schwarzenegger.
Recent polls show that the action star, a political moderate who disagrees with Bush on some key issues, is hugely popular California, which the president lost by a landslide in 2000 and where he trails Kerry by double-digits.
But Schwarzenegger's impact on the November 2 elections remains a question mark: He is unlikely to swing his state into Bush's "win" column but he could raise money and draw moderate voters to Bush's camp in closer contests.
The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that Schwarzenegger, who will give a prime-time speech at the Republican nominating convention, may be changing his mind about saying that he will not campaign for Bush outside California.
"If there's a place, one place where they want to pop me in, this makes sense for me," he told the daily in an interview.
Although Bush's reelection focuses heavily on the dominant theme of national security, he took the time in Las Vegas to heed the US axiom that "all politics is local" with comments on water rights and local anger at his decision to push ahead with storing nuclear waste at a site called Yucca Mountain.
Bush accused his rival of using the Yucca issue as "a political poker chip" and said Kerry and his running mate, Senator John Edwards (news - web sites), had in fact voted to place nuclear waste there "several times."
"One day they may change again," said Bush, who won Nevada in 2000. "I think you need straight talk on this issue."
US President George W. Bush (news - web sites)(R) greets members of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Union as he tours their Turbine Training Facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.(AFP/Paul J. Richards)
Well, that'th not very thenthitive!
President Bush (news - web sites), left, autographs boxing gloves with images of Bush and Cheney for Joe Cortez, right, a boxing referee delegate, during a campaign rally at the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America International Training facility, Thursday, Aug. 12, 2004 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
"The people who beheaded (Wall Street Journal reporter) Daniel Pearl and (US contractor) Paul Johnson will not be impressed by our sensitivity," the vice president said in the crucial battleground state of Ohio.
GO CHENEY! Republicans need to keep making these points very bluntly.
Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) talks about the war on terrorism during a town hall meeting in Joplin, Mo. Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2004. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Senator John Edwards (news - web sites), had in fact voted to place nuclear waste there "several times."
He was for it, before he was against it.
Boxing referee Joe Cortez (R) wears boxing gloves bearing the images of President Bush (news - web sites) and Vice President Cheney as he meets President George W. Bush (news - web sites) at a campaign event in Las Vegas August 12, 2004. Bush will also campaign in California Thursday. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque US ELECTION
...and you had the sense to marry a "Lynne!" ;-)
NordP = Lynne
How many headlines say "KERRY ATTACKS BUSH"?
It gets a bit tiresome when the Republicans are always "attacking" while the Democrats are simply "criticizing," or "challenging."
I was fortunate to get to see Vice President last week. He is one heck of a VP and makes me proud to have him in our administration.
GO FIGHT WIN
BUSH/CHENEY
Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) shares a laugh with his wife Lynne during a town hall meeting in Joplin, Mo. Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2004. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Heard this on Rush today. Also that JfnK kept mispronouncing both Yucca and Nevada. Heehee
Bush wasting time pressing the flesh with union members who will vote to remain on the democratic plantation and not be free.
And Kerry gets hit with a right, and another right, and on the right side of his face. The crowd's going wild.
Nothing to add to that!! I love Dick Cheney!
Excellent remarks, but I'm curious as to why Berg's name wasn't mentioned?
My dh & I were at the LV rally. The President was wonderful and he pronounced Nevada like one of us. There was a lovely black woman who spoke before the President arrived. She is the chairman of the Bush/Cheney reelection effort for the union. WHAT A THRILL!!!
I just got back from the Las Vegas rally about an hour ago and the experience was amazing and only reaffirmed my deep belief in this man.
One thing that absolutely struck me was what a contrast our side is from the other. Walking into the rally was extremely eye-opening. It is amazing the level of sheer hatred these Kerry supporters have. The family walking in front of me actually got pushed by some of the protesters (fortunately the local news media caught it and interviewed the father). My friends and I were taunted and nothing gave me more pleasure than to simply smile at them to let them know that their ranting and raving was falling on deaf ears.
Nothing anyone says convinces me that the President is anything other than a great, wonderful man. I felt it so much while hearing him speak and wondered how people can be so blind?
The debates will be for the ages. ;-)
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