Kerry promises monthly news conferences, if elected
'I don't have anything to hide'
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BELOIT, Wisconsin (CNN) -- Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry said Tuesday he would hold news conferences at least once a month if elected in November.
"I don't have anything to hide," he declared.
Kerry's pledge drew applause from supporters at a rally in Beloit, about 75 miles southwest of Milwaukee, as he promised to "stand up and tell the truth to the American people."
"I want America to know what I'm doing," he said. "I want you to know what I'm fighting for. I want you to ask me questions."
President Bush, the man Kerry hopes to unseat in November, has held 12 formal news conferences since taking office, though he routinely has short question-and-answer sessions at White House photo opportunities.
Cheney faults Kerry
Vice President Dick Cheney, meanwhile, criticized Kerry's 2003 vote against additional funding for the war in Iraq, telling an Arkansas audience that "these are not times for leaders who shift with the political wind."
Kerry favored an alternate version of the bill.
Kerry took his own jab at Cheney, who has fought to keep secret records of his 2001 energy task force.
"My vice president of the United States will never meet secretly with polluters who want to rewrite the environmental laws and keep you from knowing who we're with," the U.S. senator from Massachusetts said.
Cheney has argued that forcing him to disclose his task force's contacts with industry executives and lobbyists would hurt the White House's ability to receive candid advice. He won a temporary victory on that issue in June when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled he can keep those records sealed until a lower court rules on the issue.
Key state
Wisconsin, which has 10 electoral votes, supported Democratic nominee Al Gore over Bush by a fraction of a percentage point in 2000. It is expected to be another battleground in November.
Kerry's comments came on the fifth day of a coast-to-coast campaign swing following last week's Democratic convention, where he formally received the party's presidential nomination.
His running mate, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, stumped in Louisiana.
Bush carried Louisiana handily in 2000, but Democrat Bill Clinton claimed it four years earlier in his successful re-election bid.
