|
Republicans demand apology from Kerry for remarks
WASHINGTON -- Republicans demanded an apology from Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry for comments they criticized as "unbecoming of a candidate for the presidency."Kerry created a stir Wednesday in Chicago after he spoke via satellite to labor leaders meeting in Florida. When a supporter urged him to take on Bush, Kerry said, into a still-open microphone: "Let me tell you, weâve just begun to fight. Weâre going to keep pounding. These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group Iâve ever seen. Itâs scary." President Bushâs re-election campaign demanded an apology for "this negative attack." "Senator Kerryâs statement today in Illinois was unbecoming of a candidate for the presidency of the United States of America, and tonight we call on Senator Kerry to apologize to the American people for this negative attack," campaign chairman Marc Racicot said in a statement. "On the day that Senator Kerry emerged as his partyâs presumptive nominee, the president called to congratulate him. That goodwill gesture has been met by attacks and false statements." The Kerry camp tried to explain the remark by suggesting it was not, precisely, about Bush himself, but rather about GOP critics of the senator in general. ??This is language you don?t ordinarily use in public,?? said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, an authority on campaign rhetoric with the Annenberg Public Policy Center. Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said Republicans have a record of smearing their opponents and that Kerry intended the comment to show that he will fight back. "Four years ago, John Kerry saw what the Republican attack machine did to John McCain. Two years ago, he saw what it did to Max Cleland," Cutter said, recalling the Arizona senator who challenged Bush for the GOP presidential nomination in 2000 and the Georgia Democratic senator turned out of office in 2002. "What he was saying is heâs not going to take it." The Jackass Party Candidate has obviously adopted Dubyaâs pre-emptive attack policy - heâs just confused as to who is the real enemy. To quote Stephen den Beste: "I want to know what he really stands for. (And it better not be E Pluribus, UN.) ... I donât know what Kerry stands for, and Iâm not sure thereâs any way for me to learn what it is, or to believe that Iâve discovered it. Iâm not completely convinced Kerry stands for anything, except that heâs standing for election." Posted by: .com 2004-03-11 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=27865 |