SAGINAW, Mich. – Bitingly personal, President Bush called Sen. John Kerry too weak and wavering for wartime leadership Thursday while the Democrat held Bush responsible for missing explosives in Iraq. “The commander in chief is not getting his job done,” Kerry said.
The blunder should cost Bush his presidency, the challenger argued. The Republican incumbent fired back: “John Kerry is the wrong man for the wrong job at the wrong time.”
For the fourth straight day, the candidates exchanged harsh words over the disappearance of nearly 400 tons of explosives stored at Iraq’s Al-Qaqaa military installation. The 11th-hour political stir, which Bush advisers say has slowed their campaign, is a reflection of how the war in Iraq and terrorism have overshadowed domestic affairs throughout the campaign.
Their eyes cast abroad, many voters even in economically strapped battleground states are judging the candidates on their ability to lead a nation at war. Thus, character is a final-hours issue.
“A president cannot blow in the wind,” Bush said in a stinging reference to Kerry. In neighboring Ohio, the four-term Massachusetts senator called on his rival to “start taking responsibility for the mistakes that you’ve made.”
Five days before Election Day, the polls were close and the crowds huge. Looking out at 10,000 faces at a Bush rally, failed GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole quipped, “I couldn’t get a crowd like this in 1996.”
Across the country, anxious voters and election officials braced for an uncertain outcome Tuesday. The Justice Department said 1,090 federal poll watchers will be sent to monitor elections in 25 states to assure compliance with voting laws.
Pop culture merged with politics as rocker Bruce Springsteen endorsed Kerry and sang at the Massachusetts senator’s rally in Madison, Wis., that drew thousands. Bush didn’t have the Boss, but country singer Sammy Kershaw warmed up the crowd in affluent Westlake, Ohio.
Earlier, Kerry donned a Boston Red Sox cap to celebrate the World Series victory of his home-state team. Not everybody was a team player, however; Boston pitcher Curt Schilling told a TV audience to “vote Bush next week,” then scheduled a campaign appearance with the president in New Hampshire today.
A spate of new state polls had Bush ahead in Florida, the Democrat leading in Ohio and Michigan and the candidates essentially tied in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Oregon. Republican-leaning Arkansas is back in play, with Bush buying ads there.
And the Democratic bastion of Hawaii was up in the air, forcing Kerry to send daughter Alex to the islands.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
