On a day of heated campaign confrontations, highlighted by President Bush and Sen. John Kerry, a flurry of surveys Tuesday indicated the battle for a Senate majority heading for a photo finish.
Kerry and Republicans, led by Bush, exchanged fire long-distance over whether the senator from Massachusetts disparaged American troops in Iraq during a Monday rally for California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides.
After urging students to make the most of their educational opportunities, Kerry said, “If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”
On Tuesday, Bush told a cheering throng in Georgia that Kerry’s remarks were “insulting” and “shameful,” and he called on him to apologize to U.S. troops.
Earlier Tuesday, Kerry rejected similar calls from other Republicans. At a Seattle news conference, Kerry said his comment was “a botched joke about the president and the president’s people, not about the troops.” He renewed his attacks on Bush’s “broken policy” in Iraq.
Later, responding directly to Bush in a statement, Kerry said: “This pathetic attempt to distort a botched joke about President Bush is a shameful effort to distract from a botched war.”
GOP sees political opportunity
The pointed criticism of Kerry made clear the GOP believed he had provided an opening to press its case that Democrats can’t be trusted to safeguard America’s national security.
In Iowa, a spokesman for Democratic congressional candidate Bruce Braley said Braley had decided to cancel an event with Kerry set for Thursday. Braley said the White House and Kerry should stop bickering and focus on how to change course in Iraq.
Bush, campaigning for a GOP challenger to a Georgia Democratic House member, said, “You may not agree with Republicans on every issue, but you should also realize what voting Democrat in this election would mean for the war on terror.”
Focusing on Kerry’s comment, Bush said, “The senator’s suggestion that the men and women of our military are somehow uneducated is insulting and it is shameful.”
Saying that U.S. troops “are plenty smart and they are plenty brave,” Bush added that Kerry “owes them an apology.”
In his statement released after Bush’s speech, Kerry said, “I make apologies to no one about my criticism of the president and his broken policy that kills and maims our heroes in Iraq every single day. . . . President Bush owes an apology to our troops and to their families for his disaster in Iraq.”
Kerry also was criticized by White House spokesman Tony Snow, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and other leading Republicans; all said the Democrat’s comment impugned the intelligence of those in the military.
The furor over Kerry reflected the intensity of a midterm campaign in its final days.
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Polls released in the last two days indicated Democrats edging closer to the net gain of six seats they need to control the Senate, even as national Republicans launched campaign ads in states where they believe they are gaining ground.
State surveys buoy Democrats
New surveys showed Democrats holding clear advantages against two of their top Senate targets. In Pennsylvania, separate polls released this week by The Philadelphia Inquirer and a local radio station showed Democrat Bob Casey Jr. maintaining a double-digit advantage over Sen. Rick Santorum.
In Ohio, a CNN survey released Tuesday showed Democratic Rep. Sherrod Brown leading Republican Sen. Mike DeWine by 54 percent to 43 percent among likely voters.
A CNN survey also showed Democrat Sen. Robert Menendez holding a 51 percent to 44 percent lead over Republican Thomas Kean Jr. in New Jersey.
The most recent public polls also have shown Democratic challengers leading Republican incumbents Lincoln Chafee in Rhode Island and Conrad Burns in Montana.
But GOP strategists say they believe both states still are within reach, especially Montana, where Bush is scheduled to campaign Thursday.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee launched an advertising buy Tuesday to support Burns, who trailed state Sen. Jon Tester 46 percent to 43 percent in the last major public poll.
In Tennessee, another CNN survey released Tuesday showed Republican Bob Corker leading Harold Ford Jr. 52 percent to 44 percent among likely voters.
CNN showed Missouri Republican Sen. Jim Talent and Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill, the state auditor, tied at 49 percent among likely voters, though McCaskill held an 8 percentage point lead among all registered voters.
Los Angeles Times. Tribune news services contributed to this report.
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What started it all
The comments by Sen. John Kerry that sparked the latest campaign furor came during a rally at Pasadena City College in California.
Kerry opened his Monday speech with several one-liners, saying at one point that President Bush had lived in Texas but now “lives in a state of denial.”
He then said: “You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”
— Associated Press