Washington – Sen. John Kerry issued two apologies for remarks that seemed to impugn U.S. troops and abandoned his public schedule Wednesday, but denounced what he called the “campaign of smear and fear” against him as the surreal sequel to the 2004 presidential election echoed across the campaign trail.
The White House and GOP allies orchestrated a cascade of denunciations throughout the day to keep the once-and-possibly-future presidential candidate on the defensive and force other Democrats to distance themselves.
Kerry canceled plans to appear with several candidates and returned home to avoid becoming “a distraction.”
Republican strategists appeared almost gleeful over the contretemps, because it revived a favorite target at a time when they need to motivate core supporters to vote in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Instead of a referendum on President Bush, Republican officials have tried to make the election a choice between two parties with competing visions over taxes, terrorism and Iraq but have struggled to find a symbol for Democrats.
Kerry’s comments have allowed Republicans to make him once again the face of his party.
Democrats were aggravated to lose two days in the homestretch that they would rather have devoted to Bush’s troubled Iraq policy, and pressed Kerry to apologize and get out of sight.
Hoping to change the subject, Democrats seized on comments by Bush, who told reporters that he wants Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to remain in their jobs.
To reassert their main message, Democrats planned a blitz of final-weekend TV advertising blasting Bush for his management of the war; Republicans, meanwhile, poured more money into once-safe districts in a sign that the field of competitive races may still be expanding. Polls and strategists in both parties indicate the Democrats are in position to win the House and are running neck- and-neck to take the Senate.
Republicans decided to make a last-minute bid to help save two GOP senators who had been almost given up for lost: Sens. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., and Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., trail Democratic challengers but appear within striking distance, according to GOP strategists.
But much of the day’s political conversation centered on Kerry. His return to the national spotlight provided a new opening to Republicans, who have been battered through much of the fall by the political fallout from escalating violence in Iraq, the House page scandal and new corruption probes.
Speaking Monday to a California audience, Kerry said: “Education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”
Kerry said Wednesday that he meant it as a dig at Bush, and his office released a copy of the remarks he was supposed to deliver: “I can’t overstress the importance of a great education. Do you know where you end up if you don’t study, if you aren’t smart, if you’re intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush.”
Republicans quickly developed a Web campaign ad demanding that Kerry apologize and issued statements mocking him. One, released by House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, included a picture that appeared to show soldiers in the desert holding up a banner: “Halp Us Jon Carry – We R Stuck Hear N Irak.”
Bush took aim at his old foe as well. “It didn’t sound like a joke to me,” he said in an interview with news services.
On the Don Imus radio talk show Wednesday, Kerry said, “Of course, I’m sorry about a botched joke. You think I love botched jokes? I mean, it’s pretty stupid.”
That apology did not satisfy critics, so by day’s end, he issued a written one: “I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform and I personally apologize to any service member, family member or American who was offended.”
WHAT KERRY SAID
“Education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”
THE PREPARED TEXT
“Do you know where you end up if you don’t study, if you aren’t smart, if you’re intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush.”
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Comments on John Kerry’s remarks:
“Sen. Kerry’s apology to the troops for his insulting comments came late, but it was the right thing to do. Once he has apologized, I don’t know that there is anything more to say.” Dana Perino, White House deputy press secretary
Kerry’s comment “didn’t sound like a joke to me. More important, it didn’t sound like a joke to the troops.” President Bush
“I guess we didn’t get the nuance. John Kerry needs to learn that the men and women serving in Iraq aren’t there because they didn’t study hard or do their homework.” Vice President Dick Cheney
“Whatever the intent, Sen. Kerry was wrong to say what he said.” Rep. Harold Ford Jr., D-Tenn., locked in a tight race for an open Senate seat from Tennessee
The remarks were “poorly worded and just plain stupid.” Montana Democratic Senate candidate Jon Tester, battling to oust Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont.
“What’s lost in all this is any genuine discussion of the issue. Have we made mistakes in Iraq? Where should we go now? The questions have instead become, ‘Is John Kerry disrespectful to troops?’ and ‘Is George Bush stupid?”‘ Steven Cohen, political analyst and a professor of public policy at Columbia University
“It happens to people who give lots of speeches – you get tired, and you start to abbreviate.” Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania
