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Kerry Challenges Bush to Monthly Debates

Sat Mar 13, 7:45 PM ET Add Politics to My Yahoo!


By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

QUINCY, Ill. (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry visiting the site of one of the most famous political debates in U.S. history, challenged President Bush on Saturday to a "real discussion about America's future" in monthly debates.

Kerry, already engaged in a running exchange of negative ads with Bush before the November election, said, "America shouldn't have to put up with eight months of sniping."


"I believe the American people are hungry for a genuine conversation about the fundamental questions before us," Kerry said in Quincy, Illinois, site of one of the seven historic Abraham Lincoln-Stephen Douglas debates.

The 1858 senatorial debates between Douglas and Lincoln, who lost the Senate race but won the presidency two years later, are legendary in U.S. political history for their reasoned discussion of burning issues like slavery and states' rights in the period before the Civil War.

Kerry said modern candidates "find it easier to exchange insults than to face issues" and called for a campaign that "honors the best in America."

"Surely, if the attack ads can start now at least we can agree to start a real discussion about America's future," Kerry said, trying to take the high road early in a campaign already marked by bitter charges and counterattacks.

Bush and Kerry exchanged negative ads on Thursday, with Bush criticizing Kerry by name, accusing him of planning to raise taxes and threatening to weaken U.S. security. Kerry fired back at what he called "misleading" accusations.

Kerry, who earlier this week called his Republican critics a "crooked ... lying group," challenged Bush to monthly debates on the "great issues" of the day, including the war on terrorism, the loss of U.S. jobs and the plight of Americans without health care.

VIGOROUS DEBATES AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME'

The Bush campaign rejected the request for monthly debates and questioned how Kerry could ask for a civil discussion after his remarks about Republicans and after spending millions of dollars on ads attacking Bush.

"Senator Kerry should finish the debate with himself before he starts trying to explain his positions to the voters," said Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt. A campaign official said they looked forward to "vigorous debates at the appropriate time."

The presidential candidates are tentatively scheduled to hold three debates beginning in late September, before the Nov. 2 election, with the vice presidential candidates holding a fourth debate. Kerry proposed that monthly debates begin this spring.

After the Quincy rally, Kerry planned to travel to Pennsylvania and Ohio on Sunday, key battleground states in November.

After a brief vacation next week, he will embark on a 20-city fund-raising tour to try to close the cash gap. Bush had $100 million more on hand than Kerry at the end of January.

Kerry has raised more than $10 million on the Internet since he effectively clinched the nomination on March 2.

Several TV networks said earlier in the week that Kerry had amassed enough delegates to clinch the nomination, but the campaign has not yet declared victory.

Kerry picked up more delegates on Saturday with a win in the Kansas caucuses, where 33 delegates were at stake.



http://www.ics.uci.edu/~pazzani/4H/chickens.au

Last edited by whomod; 2004-03-14 5:02 AM.