Kerry called more liberal than Kennedy in GOP ad

By The Associated Press

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WASHINGTON — Just as John Kerry launched two campaign ads intended to help voters become familiar with him, President Bush's campaign yesterday unveiled a commercial calling the Democrat more liberal than Ted Kennedy or Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Bush's campaign continues its effort to define Kerry with its new commercial that contends "Kerry's problem is not that people don't know him. It's that people do."

The 60-second ad, to air on national cable networks starting today, quotes several newspaper editorials that say Kerry engages in doublespeak and waffles on positions.

And, the ad says, "The nonpartisan National Journal magazine ranks Kerry the most liberal member of the Senate" — more than Clinton or Kennedy, two liberal senators the GOP loves to vilify.

Kerry spokesman Chad Clanton called Bush's ad bogus. He said newspapers nationwide also have said Bush is trying to mislead the public with his ad campaign.

Steve Schmidt, a Bush campaign spokesman, said the ad simply lays out "Kerry's positions as described by America's leading newspapers."

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