Kerry visits Washington

SEATTLE – Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry, laying claim to a key battleground region, on Wednesday blistered President Bush on homeland security, soaring gas prices, domestic programs and what he called a relentless string of broken promises.

Kerry called for a “modern-day Corps of Discovery” to find new ways to break America’s dependence on foreign oil.

The Massachusetts senator also attended an evening fund-raiser that brought in $2.2 million – $1.3 million for his campaign and $900,000 for the Democratic National Committee, he said.

Kerry was greeted by a cheery, if sodden, crowd of about 2,000 on Seattle’s waterfront Wednesday morning.

Kerry blasted the administration’s handling of Iraq, homeland security, the surge in gas prices, and what he called Bush’s shortchanging of education and ballooning of the deficit.

In a region with a big environmental movement, Kerry got some of his loudest cheers when he called the administration a captive of the oil industry and unable to help the country break its heavy reliance on oil imports.

Referring to the Lewis and Clark Expedition 200 years ago, he said the country needs “a modern-day Corps of Discovery” to find alternative energy sources. Washington, with its concentration of technology experts and environmental researchers, can lead the way, he said.

“There is no possible way for the United States of America to drill its way out of this predicament,” he said. “We have to invent our way out.”

On tap Wednesday evening was a fund-raising dinner at a Seattle hotel. The take from the $1,000-a-ticket event, more than $2 million, is the largest for a single Washington state fund-raiser, and will benefit Kerry and the national party’s federal account, said state party chairman Paul Berendt.

“This just shows you how fired up people are to dump Bush,” Berendt said. “A lot of voters out here are anti-war people who feel we have to do everything we can to get rid of this administration.”

Kerry planned one more speech in Seattle this morning before departing.

Berendt and other party leaders said Kerry is well-positioned to carry Washington this fall, and to lift other candidates as well. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., faces the voters and the state has a governor’s race.

Both Bush and Kerry have declared Washington and Oregon to be up for grabs.

Kerry stumped in both states this week, with a brief time out for a wedding anniversary celebration with his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, in Seattle on Wednesday.

But the president also views both states as within reach, enjoying strong support in the eastern and rural areas of both, and hopes to make inroads in the vote-rich suburbs.

“Right now, I think Kerry is ahead in both states, but it’s no slam dunk and he needs to come back and keep the pressure on,” said independent pollster Tim Hibbitts of Portland. “The president has the more uphill battle.”

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