Kerry Challenges Bush Credibility

In the increasingly charged war of words between the presidential contenders, Democrat John Kerry on Tuesday accused President Bush of consistently misleading the nation on everything from the war in Iraq to health care.

"Nothing is more important than telling the American people the truth about the economy, health care, and war and peace," Kerry told veterans in Huntington, W. Va. "This administration has yet to level with the American people."

In a nod to Mountain State geography, Kerry said, "On issue after issue, this president's misleading misstatements have produced a credibility gap as big as the New River Gorge."

The president, in turn, challenged Kerry's honesty, calling on him to identify the foreign leaders he claims are privately supporting his bid for the presidency. Kerry has dismissed White House suggestions that he is lying if he is not willing to identify the leaders.

"If you're going to make an accusation in the course of a presidential campaign, you ought to back it up with facts," Mr. Bush told reporters in the Oval Office after meeting Tuesday with Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende of the Netherlands.

In remarks to the West Virginia veterans, Kerry said the president blamed other forces — ranging from President Clinton and Saddam Hussein to the terrorist attacks and Silicon Valley — for taking the nation from its best economy to its worst job performance since the Depression. He contended a new study showed that nearly all of a projected $500 billion deficit was due to Bush policies he described as "excessive spending and ineffective tax giveaways for the rich."

Kerry also accused the administration of hiding evidence that its prescription drug bill would cost $135 billion more than it had revealed publicly. He said the administration had "intimidated public officials to keep quiet about the truth."

Kerry traveled to West Virginia to meet with fellow veterans and await the results of the presidential primary in Illinois, although a CBS News tally shows he already has more than enough convention delegates to claim the Democratic nomination.

Democrats are gearing up for what appears right now to be a very close race. A CBS News/New York Times poll released Monday shows Mr. Bush leading Kerry by 46 percent to 43 percent, reversing a one-point lead for Kerry last week. The survey showed most voters had made up their mind, and many still don't know very much about Kerry.

Kerry's visit to West Virginia reveals the state's newfound importance on the electoral map. Once considered reliable territory for Democrats, the state voted for Mr. Bush over Al Gore in 2000.

Kerry was greeted in West Virginia by a new ad from the Bush campaign that accuses the Democrat of voting against funding American troops fighting in Iraq.

The 30-second ad mentions that "few votes in Congress" are as important as funding troops at war. It also says that while Kerry, a decorated Vietnam vet, voted in favor of military action in Iraq, he later voted against certain funding for U.S. soldiers.

A spokeswoman for the Kerry campaign responded, saying, "George Bush himself opposed pay increases for our troops in combat, and gave no-bid contracts in Iraq to Halliburton, who grossly over-billed the U.S government."

She charged the president had "squandered the goodwill of our friends and allies across the world, leaving our troops overextended in what looks like an endless occupation in Iraq."

The flap over Kerry's statement on foreign support goes back to a Florida fund-raiser last week where he said he'd heard from some world leaders who quietly back his candidacy and hope he is elected in November.

At the time, press reports based on a transcription of a tape recording quoted him as referring to "foreign leaders." On Monday, however, the Boston Globe reporter who transcribed Kerry's comments said he had confused the word "foreign" with "more." However, the context — that Kerry contended his campaign had international support — has not been challenged by Kerry or his aides.

"I'm not making anything up at all," Kerry told The Associated Press in an interview Monday. He said "it's no secret" that some countries are "deeply divided about our foreign policy. We have lost respect and influence in the world."

He continued: "I stand by my statement. The point is not the leaders. What's important is that this administration's foreign policy is not making us as safe as we can be in the world."