http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bush8jul08.storyBush Lays Claim to Edwards Country
The president dismisses Kerry's running mate in his own state, vows to sweep the South again.
By Nick Anderson and Edwin Chen
Times Staff Writers
July 8, 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. — Claiming the home state of the new Democratic vice presidential candidate as his own turf, President Bush on Wednesday brushed aside the political threat posed by Sen. John Edwards and asserted that he would again sweep the South because he shares the region's values (You know, you're against the tax cut. You voted against the partial birth abortion ban. You voted against parental notification
. You're wrong on the flag. You're a liberal, and you're from Massachusetts).
Bush, abandoning the cordial tone he struck when Edwards was named to the Democratic ticket a day earlier, suggested the one-term North Carolina senator could not measure up to the stature of Vice President Dick Cheney.
Asked to compare Edwards with his own No. 2, Bush said: "Dick Cheney can be president." He then called for the next question, indicating that he considered his case closed.
Bush's pointed response highlighted a primary line of attack Republicans intend to use against Edwards: that he is too inexperienced to become commander in chief, if necessary.
But Sen. John F. Kerry had a quick retort for Bush's implicit criticism of Edwards. Referring to Cheney's image as one of the most powerful vice presidents in U.S. history, the Democratic presidential candidate told a rally in Dayton, Ohio, that Bush "was right that Dick Cheney was ready to take over on Day One, and he did, and he has been ever since, and that's what we've got to change."<snip>