Alrite guys.. now that the democratic and republic conventions are over and we are about to enter into the final phase of USA 2004 elections, here is a thread to cover USA elections till it is all over…please post all relevant material under this thread…we may have separate threads to cover presidential debates but it is too pre-mature to talk about it. Thanks
Kerry, Bush clash over Iraq war
Kerry accused Bush of rushing to war
US Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and President George W Bush have used the traditional Labor Day holiday to step up their campaigning.
During a blitz tour of key battleground states, Mr Kerry said the president’s Iraq invasion was the “wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time”.
Mr Bush rebuked the criticism, saying his decision was “right for America”.
The heated exchange came after two polls gave Mr Bush an 11-point lead ahead of the November election.
Time magazine’s poll on Friday had Mr Bush ahead 52-41 while Saturday’s Newsweek poll had Mr Bush ahead by 54-43, both with a 4% error margin.
A Newsweek poll suggests Bush has taken the lead after his party’s convention
In graphics
A rise in the opinion polls was expected after the high profile of the Republican Party’s convention in New York, analysts say.
The Kerry camp said the “Bush bounce” after the meeting would be temporary, but some senior Democrat leaders called for a change in his strategy.
They argue that Mr Kerry has concentrated too much on national security - where President Bush has strong ratings - and not the social issues that are traditional democratic strengths, the BBC’s Dan Griffiths in Washington says.
‘W for wrong choices’
At a campaign stop in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, Mr Kerry told voters he would try to pull US troops out of Iraq within four years.
No matter how many times Senator Kerry changes his mind, it was right for America and it’s right for America now that Saddam Hussein is no longer in power
US President George W Bush
“We want those troops home, and my goal would be to try to get them home in my first term,” Mr Kerry said.
At a later campaign stop in Racine, West Virginia, he launched a stinging attack on Mr Bush’s record on a number of issues.
“It all comes down to one letter - W. George W. Bush. And the W stand for wrong,” the Massachusetts senator said.
“The W stands for wrong choices, wrong judgement, wrong priorities, wrong direction for our country.”
He also accused Mr Bush of rushing to war without a plan, calling the president’s coalition of allies in Iraq “the phoniest thing I ever heard”.
“It’s the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Mr Kerry said.
Under pressure from some Democrats to change the subject of his campaigning from national security, Mr Kerry also criticised Mr Bush’s record on the economy and other domestic issues.
Mr Kerry’s last stop on his Labor Day whirlwind tour was a picnic in Ohio - another battleground states where polls show the presidential race is virtually tied.
‘Right’ move
Rebuking the attack, Mr Bush said in a speech prepared for supporters in Missouri that Mr Kerry was a politician who could not decide what he thought and stuck to it.
Bush says Kerry keeps changing his position
“After voting for the war, but against funding it, after saying he would have voted for the war even knowing everything we know today, my opponent woke up this morning with new campaign advisers and yet another new position,” Mr Bush said in prepared remarks released by his camp.
“Suddenly he’s against it again. No matter how many times Senator Kerry changes his mind, it was right for America and it’s right for America now that Saddam Hussein is no longer in power.”
The US presidential election is to be hold on 2 November.