Yesterday, Bush and Kerry accused each other
of misjudging the stakes and lacking the leadership to deal with Iraq
and terrorism as they campaigned 60 miles apart
Wednesday in Iowa, a state Bush narrowly lost four years ago.
"The next commander in chief must lead us to victory in this
war and you cannot win a war when you don't believe you're fighting one," Bush
said in Mason City, a northern Iowa farming community. "My opponent also
misunderstands our battle against insurgents and terrorists in Iraq, calling
Iraq a `a diversion from the war on terrorism.'"
Kerry, campaigning in Waterloo, said Bush failed to grasp
what the United States faces in Iraq, where more than 1,100 U.S. soldiers have
been killed. "If President Bush cannot recognize the problems in Iraq, he will
not fix them. I do recognize them and I will fix them."
With time running out before the Nov. 2 election, national
polls say the race is very close, with some showing a slight advantage for Bush.
Polls in key swing states like Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin also show the two
candidates running about even.
Iraq and terrorism dominated the debate Wednesday as Bush
focused on Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin — all states that went against him four
years ago and where polls show him in a close race with his Democratic rival.
After Iowa, Kerry held a rally in Pittsburgh with
supporters, including singer Jon Bon Jovi, actor Ted Danson and Hall of Fame
football player Franco Harris, before retiring to Ohio for the night. Four years
ago, Bush lost Pennsylvania and won Ohio; this year the race is tight in both
states.
"The president says he's a leader. Well, Mr. President, look
behind you, there's hardly anyone there," Kerry said, pointing out considerable
allied opposition to the war. "It's not leadership if we haven't built the
strongest alliance possible and if America is going almost alone."
Saying Bush was trying to focus the election on national
security, Kerry said, "I welcome that debate. I believe a president must be able
to defend this country and fight for the middle class at the same time."
Bush, trying to depict his opponent as lacking the
credentials to be commander in chief, said Kerry was guilty of "a fundamental
misunderstanding of the war we face and that is very dangerous thinking."
He said the threat posed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a
Jordanian terrorist who has pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden and is believed behind beheadings in Iraq, "shows how wrong" Kerry's
thinking is.
"If Zarqawi and his associates were not busy fighting
American forces, does Senator Kerry think he would be leading a productive and
useful life?" Bush asked. "Of course not. And that is why Iraq is no diversion."
Kerry said the Bush administration claimed there was a
connection between Saddam and al-Zarqawi as justification to go to war in Iraq,
but a CIA report found that was not true. He said
al-Zarqawi was operating out of "no man's land" in northeastern Iraq, reportedly
producing ricin, a biological weapon.
"We could have, but did not, take them out," Kerry said.
"That was a terrible mistake that this administration has never explained."
Keeping the focus on terrorism, Vice President Dick
Cheney said he was concerned terrorists will try to
disrupt the elections, as they did with train bombings in Madrid last March.
"I think if they could get off a shot, I expect that they
may well try it," Cheney said in an interview on Fox News Channel. "But at this
stage to say we've got specific evidence of an attack that's going to happen
during a particular window — no, we can't say that."
While Kerry and Bush traded charges, there was a moment of
embarrassment — and an apology — from the senator's wife over her remarks about
first lady Laura Bush.
Teresa Heinz Kerry, in an interview published by USA Today,
had said she didn't know if Laura Bush had ever had "a real job." She apologized
for having forgotten about the first lady's 10-year stint as a schoolteacher and
librarian.
The White House, meanwhile, came under criticism from
Kerry's camp for a flurry of pre-election speeches being given by Condoleezza
Rice, Bush's national security adviser, in political
battleground states including Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Traditionally, the
national security adviser does not engage in overt politics.
"George Bush will go to any length
to cling to power, even if it means diverting his national security adviser from
doing her job," said Sen. John Edwards, Kerry's running
mate.
White House communications director Dan Bartlett defended
Rice's speeches: "We're a nation at war, we're a nation that has troops in
harm's way and the president has a foreign policy staff that helps explain the
actions we are taking."
Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot accused Democrats of
undermining public confidence in the election with last-minute lawsuits. He said
legal efforts to change election rules can "cause problems for election
officials and bring chaos ... and circus-like activity that is very confusing
and difficult for the American people to understand."
Democrats have sued over alleged ballot and voting
restrictions in several battleground states. So have independent groups such as
the League of Women Voters and outside groups allied with Kerry.
