Posted on 03/08/2004 11:25:52 PM PST by kattracks
The race for the White House heated up with President George W. Bush accusing John Kerry of pushing "deeply irresponsible" cuts in intelligence and the Democratic challenger accusing Bush of "bad rush decisions" that kill people.
The bitter exchange came as a new poll showed Kerry, the veteran senator from Massachusetts, opening an eight-point lead over Bush in the early going of an intensely personal campaign for the November 2 election.
At a fundraiser in his homestate of Texas, Bush dismissed Kerry as weak and irresolute in defending the country and branded the Vietnam war hero a wafffler who follows the prevailing political winds on crucial issues.
"My opponent clearly has strong beliefs -- they just don't last very long," the Republican president told a rowdy crowd of supporters at a Dallas luncheon that netted some 1.5 million dollars for his reelection campaign.
Bush cited a 1995 bill Kerry proposed that would have cut intelligence funding by 1.5 billion dollars over five years. "His bill was so deeply irresponsible that he didn't have a single co-sponsor," the president said.
"Once again, Senator Kerry is trying to have it both ways. He's for good intelligence, yet he was willing to gut the intelligence services. And that is no way to lead a nation in a time of war," said Bush.
Kerry hit back at what he called Bush's "reckless" foreign policies and unilateral move to invade Iraq. But he took particular exception to remarks he attributed to Vice President Dick Cheney that questioned his decisiveness and added "indecision kills."
"Let me tell you something Mr. Cheney and let me tell you Mr. Bush: Bad rush decisions kill too," Kerry told an evening rally in Tampa, Florida. "And not giving American citizens health care kills too."
"Going backwards on clean air and clean water kills too," he continued. "And not doing anything about AIDS in Africa for three and a half years ... kills people too."
Kerry also criticized Bush's decision to spend just one hour before a congressional commission created to investigate intelligence failures before the September 11, 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Noting that Bush campaigned Monday at a rodeo and livestock show in Texas, Kerry said: "I want to know why this president has the time to go to a rodeo but doesn't have more than one hour to spend before the commission."
The senator made his remarks as he campaigned ahead of Democratic nominating contests in four southern states Tuesday that became meaningless after Kerry wrapped up the party's nod last week.
But the votes in Florida, Texas, Lousiana and Mississippi gave Kerry a chance to test his appeal in a 13-state region that Bush swept four years ago and the northern senator had once looked ready to write off.
Kerry was hoping his Florida appearance would fire up Democrats who accuse Bush of stealing the presidency in 2000 with a 537-vote victory in the state that was contested all the way up to the US Supreme Court.
A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup released Monday provided some encouraging news for Kerry, giving him a 52-44 percent edge over Bush if the election was held today. Bush led 55-43 percent in a similar matchup in January.
But the new survey also showed that 52 percent of those interviewed believed Bush would be re-elected and only 42 percent said Kerry would move into the White House.
Most Americans retain confidence in Bush's foreign policy and his handling of security issues, while Kerry is more trusted with the economy, public health and education, according to the poll.
However, 65 percent of respondents said they were more likely to base their decision in November on economic issues than on progress made in the war on terror launched after the September 11 attacks.
The record sells itself....His idea of "debate" is empty rhetoric and a penchant for getting absurdly theatrical in his own defense, even over the slightest criticism....He's a guy who just can't wait to be offended about something....anything.
Great turn of phrase.
I don't believe John F'in Kerry could cut it as our president, but would make a terrific Robin Hood.
FGS
Jeez, not this sh^%$t again. Anybody here open their water spigot this morning only to watch green slime ooze out?
I wish the Pubs would do a documentary on water processing in this country; the engineering procedures, treatment, etc.
Kerry, who is personally endorsed by Yasser Arafat, Haiti's Aristide, Iran's Mullahs, Traitor "Red Jane" Fonda, Kim Jong Il, (& Kim Il Jong), Mugabe, Marxist thug Chavez of Venezuela, Castro of Cuba, & France's Jacques Chirac, is a weapon of mass economic destruction.
He'll destroy the troops in Iraq, the War on Terrorism,
& the U.S. stock market with all his negative talk and whiny-leftist-liberal sour-puss troop-bashing, Bush-bashing, America-bashing talk & self-aggrandizing, ultra-negative sourpuss whiny elitist personality.
Since the election is not today, this is completely meaningless. Nobody's really paying attention yet.
It was 20 years ago today
Gary Hart was going to win the Presidency in a runaway
He's been going in and out of style
Always guaranteed to being a smile
So let me introduce to you the, one and only Donna Rice
And Gary Hartpence's Lonely Hearts Club Baaannddd.
Gallup's Survey Gives Hart 9-Point Lead Over Reagan(March 9,1984; Reagan 43%, Hart 52%)
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