Bush, Kerry keep debating on return to campaign trail

TAMPA, Fla. – Sen. John Kerry accused the Bush administration of engaging in “fiction” while President Bush derided Kerry for thinking that a meeting might bring terrorists to justice as the candidates for president continued debating Friday over how best to make America safe.

The day after their first formal debate in Miami, Kerry and Bush used each other’s words to hammer away in the battleground states of Florida, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.

At a raucous rally in Tampa’s Sun Dome on the University of South Florida’s campus, Kerry assailed Bush for not creating a single watch list for terrorists at the Department of Homeland Security, citing a critical report from the inspector general.

“This is the single biggest task of the Homeland Security Department,” Kerry said. “It’s a complete failure. Yet this president stands there and pretends to America that we’re doing all that we can.”

In a report released Friday, Homeland Security’s inspector general, Clark Kent Ervin, faulted his department for not taking the lead on consolidating 12 watch lists among different federal agencies into one. Kerry, clearly feeling exuberant after his debate performance, said he wants to do whatever is necessary to keep America safe.

“What does the president say in response? He says, ‘Well, I don’t know how you’re going to pay for all that, you’re going to have a tax gap,’ ” Kerry said in a mocking tone. “My friends, this is the president who created a tax gap by providing a tax cut to the wealthiest Americans instead of investing in homeland security in the United States. Let’s get real.”

Bush, on the other hand, rolled out a new assault on Kerry’s vow that he will convene a world summit on Iraq to bring fresh credibility to the U.S. effort to stabilize the situation and get the job done right.

“I’ve been to a lot of summits,” Bush said derisively in Allentown, Pa. “I’ve never seen a meeting that would depose a tyrant or bring a terrorist to justice.”

Bush lambasted Kerry for suggesting “a global test” should be applied when the United States deploys its armed forces in a pre-emptive action, such as the invasion of Iraq.

“Senator Kerry last night said that America has to pass some sort of global test,” said Bush, interrupted by boos from the crowd in a park on the banks of the Little Lehigh Creek, “… before we can use American troops to defend ourselves.”

“I will never submit America’s national security to an international test,” said Bush, promising that deployment of American forces “will never be subject to a veto by a nation like France.”

And the president mocked his opponent for what Bush said was Kerry’s evolving explanations of why he supported the war and why he opposed its funding.

“After voting for the war … he now says it was all a mistake,” said Bush, invoking a question asked in the debate by moderator Jim Lehrer. “But ask him the logical question – are the troops dying for a mistake? … He said no … You can’t have it both ways.”

For his part, Kerry said Bush has been having it both ways for years, accusing the president of Orwellian manipulation when it comes to the war in Iraq, terrorism and domestic matters.

“This is part of the Bush administration fiction,” Kerry said. “They think they can fool you all the time. I know I’m here at a university, and since I’m here at a good university I can talk about George Orwell and you all know who I’m talking about.”

Kerry said Bush’s clear skies initiative actually makes the air dirtier than it was before. He said the administration’s healthy forests initiative is only healthy “because you cut down the trees.” And he said Bush’s tax relief “is the kind you get when someone goes into your home and robs your TV set, they relieve you of your TV set.”

The nation, said Kerry, has also been relieved of the sort of homeland security it deserves.

While the Bush campaign put a strong face on the debate, two senior Republican strategists said party focus groups Thursday evening indicated that Bush did not make a favorable impression among women and persuadable voters. It was too early, the strategists said, to sound an alarm, but they acknowledged that Bush would have to turn in a better performance in St. Louis next week.

Campaigning with Bush, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., also seemed to accept that Kerry might have bested the president in Miami.

“He presented himself well, John did,” said McCain. “He came out slugging … He did a nice job. Obviously, he’s an accomplished debater.”

Inside the Kerry campaign, officials said they do not expect Kerry’s strong performance Thursday night to immediately change the dynamics of the race, but they hoped it would help him get the voters’ attention.

“These debates do not change the fundamental horse race numbers, because it’s only opening up a conversation that we’re now beginning,” said Mike McCurry, a senior adviser to Kerry.