http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=930&ncid=959&e=6&u=/usnews/20040218/wl_usnews/bushsnextbattleBush's Next Battle
Wed Feb 18,12:00 PM ET
BY KENNETH T. WALSH
<snip>Bush attack ..blasted Kerry for supposedly being weak on national security, for favoring tax increases, and for reversing his position on many issues over the years, including the war in Iraq .. offended veterans by appearing at antiwar..with actress Jane Fonda<snip>
out-of-touch liberal who voted against a balanced budget and opposed increases in defense spending, who fought new weapons systems and attempted to cut funds for the CIA --Kerry's reply: He wanted to divert money to more worthwhile programs --.."partial-birth" abortion....rollback of Bush's tax cuts...higher spending on social programs...old ideas that haven't worked....Ted Kennedy.<snip>
vacillator...changed his position..over the years... unpredictable and hypocritical...voted for the Patriot Act..now wants it repealed...authorize(d) the war on Iraq but now says that the president was deceptive and that the war as Bush conducted it, pre-emptively and without enough international support, was a mistake....Kerry says his shifts..justified by changing circumstances or by new information, or were part of the inevitable compromises required by the legislative process.
Out of the cultural mainstream...supporting gun control (although he is a hunter)...backing abortions funded by taxpayers...opposition to most forms of capital punishment ..(with claims that) favoring the rich and big corporations..(equals)..class warfare... Kerry's response: The Bush campaign is focusing on a tiny slice of his record. He says his centrist credentials are clear--such as in his votes for welfare reform and the North American Free Trade Agreement.
....constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage--now legal in Kerry's home state...Kerry says he opposes gay marriage but supports civil unions that give gays the same legal rights as married heterosexuals.
The special-interest senator..taken money from an array of lobbyists...Kerry responds that he doesn't take money from political action committees, which, he says, shows him to be a reformer.
(Does public want)...president who is steadfast, who's unbending about his principles..(or)someone who's realistic, and Bush seems to have unrealistic goals--on the economy, on Iraq...(suggested Kerry response)Bush is a liar (or)..his judgment is not good...rushes to judgment, who is driven by evangelical principles."
(GOP's)forecast: The race will settle into a pattern with Kerry ahead or tied with Bush from week to week, culminating in a dead heat in the final days. <snip>
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