Kerry Camp Fires Back
It's a big week for politics: the candidates can forget about any down time.
The Sen. John Kerry campaign is firing back at Vice President Dick Cheney on the subject of defense, pointing to proposed cuts in weapons programs a top Democrat says Cheney suggested back in the days when he was Secretary of Defense.
Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic Party, says the proposed cuts were for weapons programs used by U.S. troops in Iraq.
Cheney will get his chance to respond Monday in a speech he's slated to give in Fulton, Missouri.
President Bush meanwhile will be in Minneapolis, where he is expected to outline proposals for tax-free, high-speed Internet hookups in every American home by the year 2007.
The president and vice president need to get their campaigning out of the way early this week. Thursday, they're due on Capitol Hill to testify before the panel investigating the events surrounding the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks.
They've got a few other politically tricky items on this week's calendar: Tuesday's Supreme Court case over efforts to force the disclosure of the names of Cheney's energy task force, and Saturday's anniversary of the day President Bush said "major combat" had ended in Iraq.
As for Kerry, he'll be in Wheeling, West Virginia, Monday, the first stop of a labor and trade-themed three-day bus tour through West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. The four states combined have lost more than 470,000 manufacturing jobs during Bush's presidency.
In Wheeling, he's expected to criticize President Bush for not doing enough to stop American jobs from being shipped overseas.
The states were hard fought during the 2000 election, with Mr. Bush winning West Virginia and Ohio and Democrat Al Gore winning Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Polls taken during recent weeks show President Bush with a slight edge in Pennsylvania, but statistically tied with Senator Kerry in the other three states.
A report released Monday by the Kerry campaign notes that the administration has filed just 10 WTO cases during his three years in office, compared with 65 during the last six years of the Clinton administration. Democrats in Congress have also complained about that record.
Kerry is proposing a six-part plan to enforce trade agreements, including efforts to strengthen worker's rights, eliminate abusive child labor and stop illegal currency manipulation. He said he would double the U.S. Trade Representative's budget for enforcement and create an advocacy office there for small businesses.
The war in Iraq continues to be a hot button issue, with a $10 million Bush ad campaign aimed at portraying Kerry as being weak on national security.
Other Bush ads have questioned the Massachusetts senator's fitness for the presidency because he voted against a $87 billion funding measure for U.S. troops in Iraq. Kerry has said the bill was flawed and that President Bush threatened to veto it.
Similar questions are being raised about Cheney, by Democratic Party chairman Terry McAuliffe, who says Cheney has "zero credibility" when it comes to criticizing Kerry's record on defense.
Terry McAuliffe says Cheney, back when he was secretary of defense, proposed cuts in weapons programs used by U.S. troops in Iraq.
McAuliffe said Cheney, who was defense secretary from 1989-1992, "tried to kill" more than 81 weapons programs, including M-1 tanks, Apache helicopters, F-16 fighter planes and B-2 bombers.
McAuliffe also contends that Cheney also pushed for closing more than 70 domestic military installations, and reducing the size of the military by 500,000 active duty personnel and 200,000 reservists.
A spokesman for the Bush-Cheney campaign could not be reached to respond late Sunday.
"Our point is enough is enough," McAuliffe told The Associated Press on Sunday, previewing his remarks. "If Dick Cheney wants to challenge John Kerry ... he better be ready to have the light shone on him."
"He has zero credibility. He has no legs to stand on to attack John Kerry," the Democratic chairman said.
Marc Racicot, chairman of Bush's re-election campaign, said Republicans have done nothing but voice their respect for Kerry's service in the Navy during the Vietnam War.
"We would never question his patriotism," Racicot told "Fox News Sunday." "We have from the very first point in time talked about the fact that John Kerry serviced this country honorably."
McAuliffe noted Kerry's release last week of his military record, detailing the actions as commander of a swift boat in the Mekong Delta that led to him being awarded three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star.
During the Vietnam War, President Bush served in the Texas Air National Guard, but did not participate in combat. Cheney received student deferments.
McAuliffe seized on the contrast.
"This is the comparison we're willing to have," he said. "When John Kerry was in that swift boat with people firing upon him, where were George Bush and Dick Cheney?"