Bush, Kerry campaigns trade accusations

By Mike Glover
The Associated Press

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WASHINGTON — The Bush administration cast doubts on Sen. John Kerry's credibility yesterday, strongly suggesting that the presumptive Democratic nominee lied when he said some foreign leaders privately backed his presidential bid. Kerry denied the White House's assertion, saying, "I stand by my statement."

"I'm not making anything up at all," the Massachusetts senator said. "They're just trying to change the subject."

In a telephone interview, Kerry said "it's no secret" that people in some countries are "deeply divided about our foreign policy. We have lost respect and influence in the world.

"I stand by my statement. The point is not the leaders," Kerry added. "What's important is that this administration's foreign policy is not making us as safe as we can be in the world."

One day after Secretary of State Colin Powell called on Kerry to identify his foreign backers but made no accusations, the administration ratcheted up the challenge, saying Kerry should identify the leaders who purportedly hope he defeats President Bush in November.

"Either he is straightforward and states who they are, or the only conclusion one can draw is that he is making it up to attack the president," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

Vice President Dick Cheney said Americans deserve to know what Kerry has been telling foreign leaders. Cheney noted that at a campaign event Sunday in which a heckler challenged Kerry to produce names, the Democrat declined, saying, "That's none of your business."

"But it is our business when a candidate for president claims the political endorsement of foreign leaders," Cheney said at a congressional fund-raiser in Phoenix. "At the very least, we have a right to know what he is saying to them that makes them so supportive of his candidacy."

Kerry said at a fund-raiser last week in Florida that he has heard from some world leaders who quietly back his candidacy and hope he defeats Bush. He has declined to identify them, arguing that to do so would betray confidences.
 
Three times yesterday, McClellan repeated the charge that Kerry was "making it up."

In response, Kerry's campaign issued a list of statements by Bush administration officials that proved false, including the claim about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and the prediction that tax cuts would create jobs. The campaign also questioned why the White House press secretary would be doing the work of the re-election campaign.

"The White House would be better off spending its time repairing our alliances around the world so we can collectively fight the war on terrorism and better protect the United States, rather than using the White House press room as a place to carry out political attacks," the Kerry campaign said.

Kerry also dismissed McClellan's challenge, saying the administration was trying to change the subject from jobs, health care and other issues. "They don't have a campaign so they're trying to divert it," he said.

In other campaign developments:

• President Bush traveled to suburban Philadelphia yesterday to highlight one of the few bright notes in the nation's economy: low interest rates that have helped produce record-high home ownership.

"Home ownership is at the highest rate ever," Bush said at a town-hall-style meeting. "That means that more people than ever in our history are able to say: 'I own something.' "

The U.S. home-ownership rate is at an all-time high of 68.6 percent, according to the White House; in the fourth quarter of 2003, for the first time, more than half of all minority households were homeowners.

• The Rev. Al Sharpton yesterday endorsed Sen. John Kerry for president but promised to continue his own campaign, designed to draw attention to urban issues. In welcoming the endorsement, Kerry praised Sharpton's "ability to cut through the double-talk we see coming from this administration," and pledged to work for Sharpton's oft-stated goal of a new "urban agenda."

Information on Bush's appearance in Pennsylvania was provided by the Los Angeles Times.

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