Kerry Pays Respects to Reagan, but Takes a Swipe at Bush

[AmyStrange]

Kerry Pays Respects to Reagan, but Takes a Swipe at Bush
By DAVID M. HALBFINGER
Published: June 9, 2004

FROM: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/09/politics/09kerry.html
LOS ANGELES, June 8 - On his way to pay his respects to Ronald Reagan, Senator John Kerry, his campaign otherwise suspended until the former president's funeral, nonetheless managed to take a swipe at President Bush for marginalizing Democrats in Congress and to highlight his own role in Mr. Reagan's history.

Aboard his plane as he flew to California from Washington, Mr. Kerry told reporters he admired Mr. Reagan's political skills and liked him personally. "He was a very likeable guy," Mr. Kerry said.

Mr. Kerry said Mr. Reagan "was, as he's been written about, sort of arm's distance from a lot of the stuff" on which he worked with the White House. He said as a senator he mainly dealt with Mr. Reagan's chiefs of staff and cabinet members.

But, he added pointedly: "I had quite a few meetings with him. I met with Reagan a lot more than I've met with this president."

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[JI7]

1. that's what ron jr did also