Candidates trade barbs over running mates :: Namibia Internet Gateway cc ::

Articles: Candidates trade barbs over running mates

Posted by admin on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 06:48 AM

A day after Sen. John Edwards joined the Democratic presidential ticket, testy exchanges between Republicans and Democrats highlighted the closeness and intensity of the race.
In Edwards' home state, a reporter told President Bush on Wednesday that the new vice-presidential candidate is described as "charming, engaging, a nimble campaigner, a populist and even sexy." How does Edwards stack up against Vice President Cheney, the reporter asked. "Dick Cheney can be president," Bush said tersely before soliciting another question with an abrupt "Next." Tad Devine, a senior adviser to Kerry, quickly charged Bush with "hitting the panic button" and said he was disappointed that Bush "would stoop to this kind of political bickering." Later, Sen. John Kerry responded at a rally in Dayton, Ohio. Edwards, Kerry said, "has more experience and better judgment than George Bush when he became president" after six years as Texas governor. Bush "was right that Dick Cheney was ready to take over on day one, and he did," Kerry said. "That is what we have got to change." When both men were competing for the Democratic nomination, Kerry had questioned Edwards' lack of experience on national security issues and said, "This is not the time for on-the-job training." Bush said he was not worried about losing Southern states as a result of Edwards' candidacy. "When they go to the polls to vote for president, they'll understand the senator from Massachusetts doesn't share their values," he said. "I'm going to carry the South because the people understand that ... we share values." On Tuesday, Bush welcomed Edwards to the campaign. "I look forward to a good, spirited contest," he said. Laura Bush, campaigning in Iowa, declined a reporter's invitation to comment on Edwards' selection. "I'm not going to criticize the other ticket," she said. At stops here and in Michigan, Bush urged the Senate to confirm his conservative judicial nominees. He also raised $4.85 million for the Republican Party at fundraisers. He criticized Edwards for blocking Senate hearings on two of three judicial nominees from North Carolina. Two of the three are lower-court judges; Bush said they are well-qualified. Senators can delay judicial nominees from their states by objecting to hearings before the Judiciary Committee. Edwards is on that committee. The nominees from his state have been awaiting votes for one to three years. Democrats, Bush said, are "playing politics with something as important as the judiciary." Republicans control the Senate, 51-49, but Democrats have used procedural rules to block votes on judicial nominees whom they consider too conservative in areas such as abortion and civil rights. Bush has nominated 225 federal judges since taking office; 198 were confirmed, two withdrew and 25 are pending. Six Michigan nominees are being held up.

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