Allawi Helping Case For Iraq War?; Ad War Gets Uglier; Democrats Argue Bush Also A Flip-Flopper
ANNOUNCER: Iraq's interim leader in the spotlight in Washington. Is he helping President Bush make the case that the war was worth it?</s>GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The path to our safety and to Iraq's future as a democratic nation lies in the resolute defense of freedom.</s>SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president says that things are getting better in Iraq. They're not getting better. And we need to change the course to protect our troops and to win.</s>ANNOUNCER: John Kerry once again hits Bush on Iraq. Is he finding his voice? The ad war gets uglier. We'll sort through new attempts by Bush and Kerry to ridicule one another. Single women wanted. How are the candidates faring with unmarried females?</s>ANNOUNCER: Now, live from Washington,</s>JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS. JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you for joining us. Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi is promising Congress and the American people that elections will move forward in his country. Left unsaid, Allawi's role in the U.S. presidential election. Today, he provided backup for George W. Bush's claim of progress in Iraq and a rebuttal to criticism from John Kerry. We begin with our White House correspondent Dana Bash -- hi, Dana.</s>DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Judy. And this wasn't from a swing state. Mr. Bush wasn't on the stump. He was in the Rose Garden. But everything that you heard and you saw from the president and the Iraqi interim prime minister was focused on rebutting these newly focused charges from John Kerry that President Bush made an incorrect decision to go to war in Iraq at that time and in his words really made inept decisions after going to war. Now, the buzz word was the day was optimism. The president came right out and said what the strategy for this joint news conference was. That is essentially to tell the American people, if you don't believe what he says, meaning Mr. Bush, listen to the Iraqi leader. Now, he, Mr. Allawi, said that everything is really on track, that the training of Iraqi troops is on track, they're moving toward elections on time in January. And it is that kind of rosy picture that John Kerry says is spin from the president and is proof that Mr. Bush is not leveling with the American voters. Now, Mr. Bush said today you can be optimistic, but still recognize that things are hard, but that what John Kerry is doing with his statements is undermining the mission with his criticism.</s>BUSH: I understand that -- what mixed messages do. You can embolden an enemy by sending a mixed message. You can dispirit the Iraqi people by sending mixed messages. You send the wrong message to our troops by sending mixed messages. That's why I will continue to lead with clarity and in a resolute way.</s>BASH: Now, in another dig at his opponent, Mr. Bush also said that insurgents would plot and plan elsewhere like America if the U.S. pulls out, vowed that that would not happen. Now, as for Mr. Allawi, he said over and over Iraqis want to do things for themselves and that he doesn't see the need for more international troops. But he also seemed to take a jab at Senator Kerry, too, with some familiar messages.</s>IYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI INTERIM PRIME MINISTER: These doubters underestimate our country, and they risk fueling the hopes of terrorism. Mr. President, there are those who want to divide our world. I appeal to you, who have done so much already to help us, to ensure they don't succeed.</s>BASH: Now, in another effort to explain that things maybe aren't that bad in Iraq, Mr. Bush said that a recent poll he saw showed That the question of right track/wrong track is better in Iraq, meaning Iraqis see things better off in their country than perhaps Americans do of the United States. Democrats jumped on that, said that that was proof that he is unhinged with reality. But the president's spokesman came down and actually showed us the poll he was referring to which did show that, about a month ago, 51 percent of Iraqis said that they support what's going on in Iraq. That is better than what you see in the United States, Judy.</s>WOODRUFF: All right, Dana Bash, thank you very much for the very latest from the White House. Well, John Kerry says that Iraq's interim leader is trying to put the best face on the Bush administration's policy, contradicting the reality on the ground in Iraq. Suffering from a cold, Kerry cut back on campaign events. But he went ahead with an appearance in Ohio. There, the Democrat suggested it is unrealistic to think that Iraq will be able to hold an election in January.</s>KERRY: I hope democracy will take hold. I want democracy to take hold. But, at the moment, at the moment, I think most people would tell you that the United States and the Iraqis have retreated from whole areas of Iraq. There are no-go zones in Iraq today. You can't hold an election in a no-go zone.</s>WOODRUFF: We'll have a full report on John Kerry's day later on INSIDE POLITICS. Well, the fight over Iraq is playing out on many campaign fronts, including the TV airwaves. Howard Kurtz of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" examined the latest round of Bush and Kerry ads, and what he saw wasn't particularly pretty. But was it accurate?</s>HOWARD KURTZ, "RELIABLE SOURCES" (voice-over): Two campaign ads hit the airwaves yesterday. One looks funny, the other deadly serious. Together, they amount to the sharpest exchange yet in the presidential ad wars. First, the Bush spot. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD) NARRATOR: In which direction would John Kerry lead? Kerry voted for the Iraq war, opposed it, supported it, and now opposes it again.</s>KURTZ: Hold on. Kerry voted for military action against Iraq, but never opposed the war. He criticizes the way the president went to war, without the support of many traditional allies, and the lack of planning for the war's bloody aftermath. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD) NARRATOR: He bragged about voting for the $87 billion to support our troops before he voted against it.</s>KURTZ: Well, sort of. Kerry supported a measure to fund U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan by rolling back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. He then voted against the final $87 billion law in what he describes as a protest vote against the administration's Iraq policy. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD) NARRATOR: He voted for education reform and now opposes it.</s>KURTZ: Kerry voted for the president's No Child Left Behind law. He now says Bush hasn't properly funded it and wants to replace it with a new law. But more important than the words are the images, helped by some creative editing, of Kerry engaging in what red-staters might see as the pastime of wealthy Martha's Vineyard types. Within hours, the senator's camp produced a counterattack spot, aimed at making the current violence in Iraq, not Kerry's past votes, the issue. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD) NARRATOR: One thousand U.S. casualties, two Americans beheaded just this week. The Pentagon admits terrorists are pouring into Iraq.</s>KURTZ: Wait. Is Kerry saying these things are the president's fault? Not directly, but that seems to be the implication. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD) NARRATOR: In the face of the Iraq quagmire, George Bush's answer is to run a juvenile tasteless attack ad.</s>KURTZ: Quagmire, that's a Vietnam-era word that Kerry's advertising hasn't used before. But how would Kerry get us out of the quagmire/ (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD) NARRATOR: Get allies involved, speed up the training of Iraqis, take essential steps to get a free election next year.</s>KURTZ: Well, the administration is already doing some of those things, such as training Iraqis. And many experts doubt Kerry will be able to recruit enough international allies to ease the U.S. burden in Iraq. (on camera): Windsurfing and flip-flops, casualties and beheadings, this is pretty rough stuff. What's at stake is whether the campaign is about Kerry's nuanced positions on going to war or Bush's responsibility on what the war has become, a question that may decide the election itself. Howard Kurtz, CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES."</s>WOODRUFF: Well, the Bush campaign isn't the only group using pictures of Kerry windsurfing to portray him as a flip-flopper. The pro-Republican Progress For America Voter Fund calls its ad "Surfer Dude." And it accuses Kerry of surfing every direction on Iraq and other issues. The group is spending about $1 million to air this ad on national cable and in the showdown states of Iowa and Wisconsin. It is that time and the election-year polls are coming fast and furious. Let's look at some of the new numbers, first, a national matchup. Bush leads Kerry by four points among likely voters in the new "Wall Street Journal"/NBC News poll. Turning to showdown states in Florida, a new Quinnipiac poll of registered voters suggests Bush has widened his lead over Kerry. The survey has Bush at 49 percent, Kerry 41 percent, Ralph Nader 5 percent. We'll see if that jives with our new Florida poll coming out tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on CNN's "PAULA ZAHN NOW." On to Wisconsin, where two new surveys give Bush the advantage. He is four points ahead of Kerry in the Badger State poll of registered voters. And Bush leads by six points in an ABC News poll of registered voters in Wisconsin. Another Bush lead to report in Arkansas. The ARG poll of likely voters shows Bush with 48 percent, Kerry with 45 percent. Well, from the polls, the ads and the debate over Iraq, there's plenty for top campaign officials to talk about. My interview with Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot next. Then Kerry campaign senior adviser Tad Devine joins us for the other side of the story. Also ahead, we're following the money to find out who's covering new ground and who's on the retreat in the ad war. With 40 days exactly until the election, this is INSIDE POLITICS, the place for campaign news.