 |
|
The Morning Grind / DayAhead |
Pre-ttacking Kerry
By John Mercurio
CNN Political Unit
 | |
|
Story Tools
|
| | ON CNN TV | 
Watch "Wolf Blitzer Reports" at 5 p.m. ET for a debate on Sen. Ted Kennedy's assertion that Iraq is "Bush's Vietnam." Then DNC chief Terry McAuliffe is a guest on "Lou Dobbs Tonight" at 6 p.m. ET. And Bush adviser Karen Hughes talks about her perspective on "Larry King Live" at 9 p.m. ET.
|
 VIDEO |
 CNN's Joe Johns on Sen. Ted Kennedy's attack on President Bush's Iraq policy.
 PLAY VIDEO
 CNN's Bill Schneider on the recent erosion of support among seniors for last year's Medicare legislation.
PLAY VIDEO
 CNN's Tim Rury on White House preps for a week of scrutiny around 9/11 and the Iraq war.
PLAY VIDEO
|
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- While President Bush continues his victory lap on job creation today in Arkansas, his campaign works quietly to demolish John Kerry's economic credentials before the senator has even unveiled his speech tomorrow.
Kerry will roll out Wednesday the second in a series of speeches on his economic plans. In the first speech, he announced to a crowd in Michigan last month that if elected, he planned to create 10 million jobs with tax reform designed to target outsourcing. (Full story)
"We're getting to the point in this campaign where the questions need to be answered. Specifically, for John Kerry, what taxes would you raise to pay for your new spending, or what programs do you cut?" one senior Bush/Cheney aide told the Grind, summarizing the GOP mantra this week. "You can't be all about pessimism, negativism and criticism. You have to stand for something."
Look for more Bush/Cheney surrogates to hold conference calls today, preemptively attacking (pre-ttacking?) Kerry on matters related to jobs and the economy. Yesterday, campaign manager Ken Mehlman and policy director Tim Adams got the ball rolling, noting in a news conference that Kerry has previously voted for several key items he now criticizes, including the farm bill and the increased child tax credit.
In some cases, they said, Kerry backed even more costly plans than Bush supports.
"His numbers do not add up and therefore he's going to have to change some of the numbers in order to win the nomination," Mehlman said. "These attacks are the ultimate example of Kerry trying to project his own weaknesses onto the president. He's attacking the president for spending money on something he supports, or something that he supported spending more on."
Kerry to tap former Dean adviser
Speaking of the need for an aggressive surrogate operation, sources tell the Grind that Kerry will name Maura Keefe to run his surrogate shop at the Democratic National Committee.
In this job, Keefe, who served as a senior adviser to Howard Dean during his presidential campaign, will generate and maintain an active list of Kerry-friendly Dems who can speak and campaign on the senator's behalf. Camp Kerry plans to announce Keefe's appointment this week, perhaps as early as today.
Also headed to the DNC (but not appointed by Camp Kerry): Ellen Moran, who will run the committee's independent expenditure office. In 2000, Moran ran the issue-advocacy and independent-expenditure shops for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. A longtime Boston operative, she ran Joe Kennedy's short-lived gubernatorial race in 1998. She's currently working at the AFL-CIO.
Nader in Chicago
Meanwhile, Ralph Nader will be campaigning in Chicago today, speaking at Columbia College on ballot access laws that he says hinder third party and independent candidates. Nader will talk about corporate domination of our country -- its economy, its politicians and its culture.
While he prepares for a head-to-head meeting with Kerry later this month, Nader drew a stinging rebuke yesterday from Howard Dean. Just hours before Nader's appearance yesterday in Oregon, Dean urged the state's voters to ignore him and stick with Kerry. To get on the Oregon presidential ballot, Nader only needs 1,000 registered voters to gather in one place and sign their names on a petition.
"The only way to send President Bush back to Crawford, Texas, is to vote for John Kerry because, unfortunately, a vote for Ralph Nader is the same as a vote for George Bush,'' Dean said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
