Bush Fires Away at Kerry
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting from Washington. Coming up at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, about 90 minutes from now, from outlawed militia leader to political candidate? A possible cease-fire with the radical Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, engaged in a bloody battle with U.S. forces. A rush of flu shots after word of a severe vaccine shortage. It's a worst-case scenario at the worst possible time. What health officials plan to do about it. We'll have a report. Plus, there's been a shocking announcement from the country's top shock jock. Details of Howard Stern's surprise move. That's coming up, all those stories. In fact, much more later today on "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS." Now back to</s>JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS. WOODRUFF: The day after, both Vice President Cheney and Senator Edwards hit the trail again in Florida. Welcome back to INSIDE POLITICS. I'm Judy Woodruff, live in Cleveland, just blocks away from the site of last night's debate. Two days ahead of his next face-off with Senator John Kerry, President Bush is on the offensive. In a stinging attack today in Pennsylvania, Bush blasted Kerry on both Iraq and the economy. Then the president headed to another showdown state, Michigan. CNN's Elaine Quijano is with us from Farmington Hills, Michigan. Elaine, nothing subtle about what the president said today.</s>ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there is no doubt about it, certainly a more aggressive tone out of the president today. Good afternoon to you. President Bush fresh off a forceful speech in Pennsylvania, now rallying his supporters here in Oakland County, in the suburbs of Detroit Michigan. Michigan. of course, a crucial state for President Bush, one that he lost to Al Gore by five percentage points back in 2000. A lot at stake here. Seventeen electoral votes up for grabs. The president very much wants to put those in his win column, making his 20th visit to this state since taking office. Now, earlier, at the campaign stop that I mentioned in Pennsylvania, the president took an unmistakably sharper tone, zeroed in an attack to John Kerry's record in the Senate, as well as his record as candidate Kerry. Now, over the course of his 45-minute speech, the president devoted more than half of it to blasting Kerry on issues ranging from taxes to health care to the Iraq war. The president called him a tax-and-spend liberal who favors policies that hurt middle class families. And in a jab clearly meant to appeal to his base, the president criticized Kerry's plan for health care. The president, in fact, saying that the senator's plan amounted to Hilary -- to Clinton care, rather. Now, the president also hammered John Kerry on the topic of Iraq. At one point, Mr. Bush even making reference to those well-publicized, those well-known grimaces that he made during the presidential debate, and he blamed John Kerry for them.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He said terrorists are across the Iraqi border, but also said that fighting those terrorists is a diversion from the war on terror. You hear all of that and you can understand why somebody would make a face.</s>QUIJANO: Now, the Kerry camp has shot back. They say that this speech was way over the top. They say it was a dishonest presentation and a sign, they believe, that the Bush team is now desperate. Meantime, back here in Michigan, the president, after wrapping up his rally here today, will head back to Washington. And then tomorrow, off to Wisconsin for a campaign event there before finally moving on ahead of that presidential debate Friday in St. Louis -- Judy.</s>WOODRUFF: Elaine Quijano, thank you very much. Well, while Senator John Kerry is off the campaign trail today, as you just heard Elaine say, his staff was quick to respond to President Bush's latest attacks. CNN's Frank Buckley is keeping track of the Kerry campaign in Englewood, Colorado.</s>FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator John Kerry prepared for the next presidential debate at this resort in Colorado, letting John Edwards and advisers respond to President Bush's blistering criticism of Kerry during a speech in Pennsylvania.</s>MIKE MCCURRY, KERRY CAMPAIGN SR. ADVISER: Well, this is a greatest hit reels of all the negative attacks they've had for the last month. There was nothing new that the president had to say today about Iraq, about our economy, about health care, about where America will be four years from now.</s>BUCKLEY: Senior strategist Mike McCurry tried to refocus reporters' attention on Iraq and a final report on WMD, which reportedly concludes that Saddam Hussein did not have stockpiles of weapons and was not moving to produce them when the war began.</s>MCCURRY: And it all adds up to one thing. This president did not level with the American people about the reasons for going to war. This was a damning report.</s>BUCKLEY: Tuesday night, Kerry watched the vice presidential debate with his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, in his hotel suite. Journalists allowed in after the debate to watch as he spoke to his running mate by phone. Kerry getting a free shot at his own post- debate spin.</s>SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You were so strong on correcting the facts. They keep distorting things. And I look forward to going out and just taking on those distortions. These guys can only resort to fear and distortion, and they're unwilling to deal with the truth. So you held them accountable and you did a great, great job.</s>BUCKLEY: Senator Kerry is not expected to campaign during his visit to Colorado. His airport welcome rally his last scheduled public appearance. But strategists are hoping his visit will help in a state that went to Bush by eight points in 2000. Kerry and Bush are both spending time and money here.</s>BUCKLEY: And right now, Senator Kerry remains engaged in his debate prep here at the Inverness Resort and Hotel just outside of Denver. A ballroom here at the hotel, we're told, has been converted into a town hall-style setting. Once again, Greg Craig, one of President Clinton's former attorneys during impeachment, playing the role of President Bush. We're told that staff members are playing the roles of audience members who are asking the questions -- Judy.</s>WOODRUFF: That's right. This debate has a different format. The town meeting with questions from voters. All right, Frank, thank you very much. Well, we have had two down and we have two more to go. The debates in this year's race for the White House are half finished. With me now to talk about last night's vice presidential face-off and coming Friday night's presidential debate are CNN political analyst Ron Brownstein of the "Los Angeles Times." He's in Washington. And in Englewood, Colorado, where we just heard from Frank, Dan Balz, of "The Washington Post." Ron, I want to ask -- come to you first, but I'm going to ask both of you, talk about last night's debate. But in particular, how did each one of these candidate, vice presidential candidates help the man at the top of the ticket -- Ron.</s>RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you know, Judy, that's the right question because, in the end, people don't vote for vice president. And these debates usually matter to the extent they advance the arguments that the top of the ticket want to use to frame the race. And I thought last night was very revealing of where we are in this contest. You saw a very spirited tug-of-war between Edwards and Cheney that was often pretty fierce about where the focus should be. More effectively and consistently than President Bush, Dick Cheney consistently and repeatedly tried to turn the focus of the election back to John Kerry's voting record and, to some extent, John Edwards' voting record, whereas Edwards was trying to keep the focus on President Bush's performance over the last four years. He took the line that John Kerry used about Iraq last week, where he said reelecting President Bush would get you more of the same, and he draped it over the entire range of domestic and foreign issues. I think, in summation, the difference they're offering is what is the greater risk, change or continuity? And that was, I think, very much clearly on the table last night.</s>WOODRUFF: Dan Balz, how do you size up what happened last night? How did -- how did each one of these candidates help or not help their own ticket?</s>DAN BALZ, "WASHINGTON POST": Well, I think in a couple of ways, Judy. I think Ron's absolutely right on the -- on the broader point, and that is that the first debate between President Bush and Senator Kerry was a debate in which I think Senator Kerry was able to put President Bush on the defensive about what is happening in Iraq now, what his own policies are in Iraq, and whether they are going in the direction that is going to provide for success in Iraq. Last night, Vice President Cheney turned the tables and put the focus back on Senator Kerry's record. As Ron said, that tug-of-war is going to go on through the rest of these debates. I think what's important is the degree to which outside events continue to work against the president on that front. The latest being the report on weapons of mass destruction, which continue to bring the focus back toward where are we in Iraq and what is it that President Bush is doing, as opposed to Senator Kerry's record. But that's where the Bush campaign is pushing on this, and they pushed very hard on that. I think where Senator Edwards was helpful last night for Senator Kerry was in showing that on the domestic side they have a series of arguments that they want to raise. And as these debates make the transition from national security policy to domestic policy, I think the Democrats feel that they're going to be able to score some points.</s>WOODRUFF: Well, let's talk specifically, Ron. What is it that -- that John Kerry and George W. Bush need to do in their next debate -- well, the next two debates coming up?</s>BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think John Kerry, as Dan suggested, and I guess repeating -- sort of extending on what I said, I think the overwhelming priority for John Kerry is to put the focus on George Bush's performance over the last four years. You saw John Edwards last night beginning to make more of the case on domestic policy. He talked repeatedly about the increase on the number of uninsured under President Bush, up over five million. He talked about the job performance over the last four years, the deficit. When you look at polling, Judy, the public is more closely divided on whether George Bush has done a good job than they have been in the horse race between Bush and Kerry. And I think the clear imperative for Kerry is to drive home those questions. For Bush, I think it is both to defend his record, but also, as we saw in his speech today, to try to shift the focus back toward a different question, which is do you trust John Kerry to be commander in chief in this difficult time? And you saw in his speech today he went beyond the argument of flip-flop that has dominated the Republican discourse to basically argue that Kerry has flipped and flopped into the wrong conclusions and to try to draw a kind of ideological line on both domestic and foreign policy issues.</s>WOODRUFF: And Dan, we are going to hear more about domestic policy in these next two debates. How do you see what these candidates need to do going forward?</s>BALZ: Well, I think there was so much focus after the first debate on President Bush's demeanor that one of the things he's going to want to do on Friday night's debate is show that that performance he gave in Miami a week ago is not the real George W. Bush. He wants to put forward a President Bush who is the likable President Bush, that was popular in the 2000 election and going forward. I think that's going to be a major imperative. He tried to do a little of that in that speech today, but over 90 minutes he's going to have to focus that. I think Senator Kerry, having done as well as he did in the first debate, now has to continue to try to meet or exceed those expectations. He came into that debate with, in many ways, a low bar, which was to debunk the image that the Bush campaign had pained of him. And he was successful in doing that, which is why I think he was judged to be the winner of that debate. Now he's got to stand on that new image and go forward on that, and continue to press the arguments. I think these debates are going to be very, very spirited and tough for both men.</s>WOODRUFF: Dan Balz, Ron Brownstein, thank you both. We always learn a lot when we talk to you. We appreciate it. Thank you.</s>BALZ: Thank you.</s>WOODRUFF: Well, checking the headlines in our "Campaign News Daily" now, new state presidential polls find extremely close races in two showdown states and a slight rebound for John Kerry in the seesaw race in New Jersey. In Florida, a new American Research Group Survey gives Kerry 47 percent and Bush 45 percent. Ralph Nader with 2 percent. In New Hampshire, Bush and Kerry are deadlocked at 47 percent each. Ralph Nader receiving one percent in the ARG Survey. And in normally-Democratic New Jersey, Kerry has a narrow three- point lead over Bush. According to a Quinnipiac University Poll two weeks ago, the two candidates were tied at 48 percent. Four of the so-called third party candidate are scheduled to debate tonight. Libertarian nominee Michael Badnarik and Socialist Walt Brown, Green Party nominee David Cobb, and Michael Peroutka of the Constitution Party all will take the stage at Cornell University. Ralph Nader declined an invitation to take part in the event. The liberal group Up for Victory is criticizing Nader for accepting money from conservative donors, including five people that the group says gave money to the anti-Kerry Swift Boat Veterans for Truth organization. Up for Victory says federal records show that Nader has also accepted money from donors to the anti-tax group Club for Growth. It also claims that Nader has accepted help from GOP consultants and lawyers. In response, a Nader spokesman told CNN, "It's a surprise to us." Well, the question is, will Congress act on the 9/11 Commission's recommendations? With the legislative session scheduled to end in two days, it's coming down to the wire. We'll have an update after the break.