<p>Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential front-runner, has asked supporters to stop suggesting that President Bush shirked his duty during the Vietnam War, but a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee says his group will not back off.</p>
<p>At Sunday night's Democratic debate in Milwaukee, Mr. Kerry dismissed the charge by DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe that Mr. Bush was AWOL -- absent without leave -- when he was required to report to the Alabama Air National Guard in 1972.</p>