Campaign Notebook
Bush, Kerry trade fire over war

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"I have given my answer," Bush said. "We did the right thing, and the world is better off for it."

Kerry's campaign said he had answered the question — and then criticized Bush's handling of the war anew.

"As John Kerry has said previously, it was right to hold Saddam Hussein accountable, and we're glad he's gone," said Susan Rice, the Democrat's senior adviser for national-security affairs.

She said Bush had "rushed into war without our allies, without a plan to win the peace and without properly equipping our troops."

Bush calls for end to "legacy" admissions

WASHINGTON — President Bush, who followed his father and grandfather to Yale University despite an undistinguished academic record, said yesterday that colleges should get rid of "legacy" admission preferences that favor sons and daughters of alumni.

"I think it ought to be based on merit," Bush told a conference of minority journalists. "And I think colleges need to work hard for diversity."

Most selective colleges and many public universities favor legacy applicants as a way to build family loyalty and boost fund raising.

Bush's father, the first President Bush, and his grandfather, the late Sen. Prescott Bush, were awarded degrees at Yale, and daughter Barbara graduated from Yale this year.

Powell won't appear at GOP convention
 
WASHINGTON — The most popular Republican in the country will not be speaking at the Republican National Convention. Secretary of State Colin Powell will not even be there — and may not be in the United States, according to U.S. officials.

Powell consistently has scored better than his boss in public-opinion polls, often by 20 points or more. But in keeping with tradition, Cabinet officials do not speak at the conventions — or other campaign events. So Powell will not appear.

"As secretary of state, I am obliged not to participate in any way, shape, fashion or form in parochial, political debates. I have to take no sides in the matter," Powell told the Unity: Journalists of Color Convention on Thursday. Powell was a featured speaker at the 2000 convention and even campaigned with Bush.

Powell may spend some of the time on vacation. He also may catch up on some deferred travel to non-hot spots, according to State Department officials.

Louisiana congressman shifts to Republicans

BATON ROUGE, La. — Rep. Rodney Alexander switched his party affiliation to Republican yesterday — making the surprise flip in the last minute of registration for the Nov. 2 ballot, virtually assuring the seat for the GOP.

Alexander, a first-term Democrat who has voted along conservative lines, said yesterday he had struggled with his conservative votes for two years — backing Bush's tax cuts as well as the war in Iraq — and noted they had brought him criticism.

"I just decided it would be best for me to switch parties, that I would be more effective in the 5th District in the state of Louisiana as a Republican," he said.

His decision leaves House Republicans with 229 seats to 205 for the Democrats with one Democratic-leaning independent.