WASHINGTON – Fearful of damaging his own party in next week’s elections, Sen. John Kerry apologized Wednesday to “any service member, family member or American” offended by remarks deemed by Republicans and Democrats to be insulting to U.S. forces in Iraq.
Six days before the election, the Democrats’ 2004 presidential nominee said he wanted to avoid becoming a distraction in the final days of the battle for control of Congress. He added he sincerely regretted that his words were “misinterpreted to imply anything negative about those in uniform.”
In a brief statement, Kerry attacked President Bush for a “failed security policy.” Yet his apology, issued after prominent Democrats had urged him to cancel public appearances, was designed to quell a controversy that party leaders feared would stall their drive for big gains on Nov. 7.
With polls showing the public opposed to the war in Iraq, Democrats have expressed increasing optimism in recent days that they will gain the 15 seats they need to win control of the House. Democrats must pick up six seats to win the Senate, a taller challenge, and both parties made last-minute efforts to increase the number of competitive races.
Kerry beat a grudging retreat in his return to the national campaign spotlight. Earlier, on the nationally syndicated radio program “Imus in the Morning,” the Massachusetts senator said he was “sorry about a botched joke” about Bush. He heaped praise on the troops, adamantly accused Republicans of twisting his words and said it was the commander-in-chief and his aides who “owe America an apology for this disaster in Iraq.”
Democrats cringed, though, at the prospect of the Massachusetts senator becoming the face of the party for the second consecutive national campaign. “No one wants to have the 2004 election replayed,” said Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., like Kerry, a potential contender for the 2008 nomination.
Congressional candidates in Iowa and Minnesota swiftly made plain that Kerry was no longer welcome to appear at scheduled rallies, and the senator scrapped an appearance in Philadelphia.
“It was a real dumb thing to say. He should say sorry,” said Democrat Claire McCaskill, running in a tight Senate campaign in Missouri.
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