Bush Steps Up Campaign Effort
Until now, it has been George W. Bush's strategy to appear presidential and above the political fray when it came to his campaign speeches, reports CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller.
"I'm loosening up and I'm getting ready," President Bush has said, "but politics is going to come in its own time."
That time has now come. In a speech Monday evening to a fund-raiser for Republican governors, Mr. Bush is expected to be more confrontational in defending his policies and responding to his detractors, though he is not expected to mention any of his would-be opponents by name.
His campaign described the address as a "new period of engagement" for the president as he intensifies his re-election effort.
Already, Mr. Bush's opponents are criticizing his new campaign speech. Democratic front-runner John Kerry predicted Monday that President Bush will "run away from his own record" in the speech.
CBS News Anchor Dan Rather will moderate a debate among the four Democratic presidential contenders on Sunday, Feb. 29, at 11:00 AM ET. Watch a live Webcast on CBSNews.com.
"We have George Bush on the run because he's going to go out here and start this campaign officially tonight before we even have a nominee of the Democratic Party," Kerry told supporters at a rally in Harlem. "And he's going to lay out what he calls his vision, and I think it's extraordinary that four years into this administration we're finally going to get what this president calls his vision for the nation. He certainly has to call something a vision because he can't run on his record."
Kerry said the nation has lost 3 million jobs and has grown weaker and more isolated from its allies under Mr. Bush, whose tax cuts and other economic policies the Massachusetts senator criticized.
"The president tonight will lay out what he calls a vision. I believe what he will do tonight is run away from his own record because he doesn't have a record to run on," Kerry said.
Some in the racially diverse crowd in Harlem exclaimed in disapproval when Kerry pointed out that President Bush has not met with the Leadership Council on Civil Rights or the NAACP.
Kerry said he's never seen such "crony capitalism and crony government" or such "arrogant, inept, reckless and ideological foreign policy."
Kerry was introduced at the rally by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., a fellow veteran who said Mr. Bush "parades around like he is a war veteran."
"When someone parades around campaigning like he is a war president, it's time for the Democratic Party to get a warrior," Rangel said.
The Bush campaign has told Kerry it does not condone any effort to impugn his patriotism but insisted his voting record on national security and defense is fair game in the presidential race.
Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign chairman Marc Racicot on Sunday denied Kerry's accusation that the president is using surrogates to attack the Massachusetts senator's military service in Vietnam and his subsequent opposition to the war.
"In fact, that simply wasn't the case," Marc Racicot wrote in a letter to Kerry. "Our campaign is not questioning your patriotism or military service, but your votes and statements on the issues now facing our country."
The Kerry and Bush campaigns traded charges and countercharges in a flurry of statements and letters over the weekend.
The dispute began when the Bush campaign arranged a conference call with Georgia Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss as Kerry prepared to campaign in the state Saturday. Chambliss predicted Kerry would have trouble in Georgia's Democratic primary next week because of a "32-year history of voting to cut defense programs and cut defense systems."
Kerry, landing in Atlanta later that night, held a press conference in which he declared, "No one is going to question my commitment to the defense of our nation."
He also said, "I don't know what it is about what these Republicans who didn't serve in any war have against those of us who are Democrats who did."
He sent a letter to Mr. Bush late Saturday, accusing the president of reopening the wounds of Vietnam for his personal political gain.
"If you want to debate the Vietnam era, and the impact of our experiences on our approaches to presidential leadership, I am prepared to do so," he said.
Kerry was the commander of a Navy swift boat in Vietnam and won three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star for his service. Bush served in the National Guard as a fighter pilot and received an honorable discharge, but he has faced questions in recent weeks about whether he always reported for duty.
Racicot responded Sunday to Kerry's letter, asking him to "elevate the remarkably negative tone of your campaign and your party over the past year."
"Senator Chambliss addressed your Senate record of voting against the weapons systems that are winning the war on terror," said Racicot, former governor of Montana.
Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill then responded to Racicot's response, criticizing the Bush campaign for rejecting the debate proposal.
"Let's hope President Bush will stop hiding behind his attack dogs, his $100 million campaign war chest and his campaign chairman and debate," she said in a statement.
The exchange allowed Kerry to engage the president's re-election team before he's won the Democratic nomination. Kerry is well positioned to become the nominee after winning 15 of 17 primaries and caucuses, but rival John Edwards is doggedly challenging him in the 10 Super Tuesday contests on March 2.