Sparks Fly Over Black Vote

Democrat John Kerry, taking advantage of a spat between the NAACP and the White House, accused President Bush on Thursday of dividing America by race and wealth, and promised as president to represent "all of the people."

"The president may be too busy to talk to you," Kerry told the partisan crowd, "but I have news for you: He's going to have plenty of time after Nov. 2."

Mr. Bush rejected an invitation to address the NAACP. He has not spoken to the civil rights group since the 2000 campaign, when the NAACP National Voter Fund ran an ad that portrayed him as unsympathetic to the dragging death of James Byrd in Texas.

Since the campaign, leaders of the NAACP have called Mr. Bush an illegal president, compared his anti-abortion views to the Taliban and called his trip to Africa a photo-op. A Bush spokesman blasted the NAACP on Thursday.

The president "has many friends who belong to the NAACP and respects their proud history of championing civil rights," White House communications director Dan Bartlett said. "Differences of opinion and opposing views are of course part of the national debate. Yet the current leadership of the NAACP has clearly crossed the line in partisanship and civility, making it impossible to have a constructive dialogue."

NAACP chairman Julian Bond poked fun at Mr. Bush for refusing to address the group because of its criticism.

"If he didn't go anywhere people criticize him, he'd never leave home," Bond said, drawing laughter.

Mr. Bush will address another civil rights group, the National Urban League, next week. Kerry has also been invited to speak to the group.

Meanwhile,

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said the ads "were lackluster to say the least," according to the Los Angeles Times.

Other caucus members who viewed the commercials were also displeased. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., called the ads "very disappointing," while Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, D-N.Y., said they were "horrible."

The ads encourage African Americans to "get to know" the Democratic candidate, who's pictured in the spot embracing a black voter as an announcer assures viewers that he cares about issues that affect their lives.

The ads will run in battleground states and in major cities in other states and will appear on black-oriented cable networks like BET and TV1.

Kerry spokeswoman Allison Dobson responded that the campaign would consider altering the ads. "It's a dynamic process," she said. "There could be ... changes."

The Bush campaign also began airing radio ads geared to black voters in Philadelphia, site of Kerry's address, as well as Detroit, St. Louis, Kansas City, Mo., Cleveland, Toledo, Ohio, and Milwaukee. It calls the Massachusetts senator's voting record "extreme" and spotty.

In Washington, Mr. Bush's education secretary, Rod Paige, took aim at Bond and NAACP president Kweisi Mfume for what he called "hateful and untruthful rhetoric about Republicans and President Bush." At the convention, NAACP officials have described some black organizations as mouthpieces of white conservatives and have said Mr. Bush's education law disproportionately hurts minorities.

When Kerry took his turn on stage to the soul anthem "We are Family," he said, "I will be a president who is truly a uniter, not one who seeks to divide one nation by race or riches or by any other label."

He noted the high unemployment rate for blacks, and said Mr. Bush had not done enough to improve education, the economy and civil rights for all Americans, including blacks.

After his speech to the NAACP, Kerry was beginning his "Front Porch Tour" in Philadelphia suburb of Lansdowne. The Kerry campaign is putting a new spin on an old technique — trying to get the candidate more time-sharing concerns with regular Americans.

While Kerry is visiting with voters in the swing state of Pennsylvania, his running mate John Edwards will be visiting voters on a front porch in New Orleans. Although Kerry and Edwards were officially kicking off what they say will be a regular feature of their campaign trips, Kerry sat with voters on their porch at least once before.

Last month in Columbus, Ohio, Kerry chatted with two sisters who brought out iced tea and talked about the struggles of raising their kids in a tough economy. The normal intimacy of a front-porch chat was somewhat disrupted by the glare of the flood lights brought in by the campaign and more than a dozen national journalists and staff who watched from the lawn.

Kerry said the importance of the porch visits is "going to the homes of ordinary citizens across this nation and talking with them about the values that matter most to them — values you live by every day — family, responsibility, service, opportunity, inclusion, fairness, faith."