GOP launches attack on Kerry's social views

WASHINGTON -- Republicans opened a potentially significant new front yesterday in their battle with Democrat John F. Kerry, launching their first broad assault against his views on abortion, gun control, gay marriage, the death penalty, and other social issues.

Since Kerry effectively clinched his party's presidential nomination in early March, President Bush's campaign and the Republican National Committee have challenged him almost entirely over his record on taxes and national defense.

But a study released yesterday by the committee also targeted the Massachusetts senator on cultural concerns, such as his opposition to banning a procedure some call "partial-birth abortion" and his vote against a measure that allowed states to disregard gay marriages performed outside their borders.

The study highlights Kerry's views on issues politically potent in the South, and it surfaced on the eve of a gathering of Southern Republicans that begins today in Miami.

"The portrait that emerges is that Kerry, on every issue -- economic, national security, and values -- is out of the mainstream in the South and, I would argue, nationally," said Ralph Reed, the Southeast regional chairman for Bush's reelection campaign.

GOP strategists who asked not to be named when discussing party planning said Republicans are not planning a sustained spotlight on Kerry's cultural views at this point in the campaign.

"This is not Dukakis-Bush in 1988," said one informed Republican, referring to George H. W. Bush's overwhelming reliance on social issues against Democrat Michael S. Dukakis in the 1988 presidential race.

But Earl Black, a specialist on Southern politics at Rice University, said yesterday's attack on Kerry could represent "a shot across the bow" that foreshadows the arguments Republicans will use later against Kerry in the South and in rural communities across the Midwest.

"None of those issues are explicitly Southern," said Black. "In a lot of rural, small-town America, many of those issues would resonate, and since a lot of voters don't really know much about Kerry at this point, those issues are going to be part of the battle to define him."

In 2000, Bush won all 11 states in the old Confederacy, as well as Oklahoma and Kentucky. Kerry aides have signaled their intention to compete for Arkansas and Florida in the South, and have not ruled out targeting Louisiana, Georgia, and North Carolina.

The committee study attempts to portray Kerry as outside the Southern mainstream by highlighting votes by him differing from current and former Democratic senators from that region. In compiling that case, the document reprises some issues the Bush campaign has already emphasized in its advertising.

For instance, it notes that Kerry's vote last year against Bush's request for $87 billion to fund reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan put him at odds with Senators Blanche Lincoln, Democrat of Arkansas; Mark Pryor, Democrat of Arkansas; and Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida.

It contrasts Kerry's vote against Bush's 2001 tax-cut bill with support for the measure by Democratic Senators John Breaux and Mary Landrieu, both from Louisiana.

The study also spotlights Kerry's opposition to subsidies for tobacco farmers and disaster relief for cotton farmers. But the document's key new thrust is its focus on social issues.

These include Kerry's votes:

Against banning the late-term abortion procedure that critics call "partial-birth abortion."

Against a constitutional amendment to ban burning the American flag.

Against a requirement for organizations receiving federal funds to notify parents before performing abortions for minors.

Against a federal death penalty for drug-related murders.

Against the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which said states did not have to recognize gay marriages performed in other states.

For a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons.

Reed said the Bush campaign believes such issues will reinforce its portrayal of Kerry as too liberal on taxes and national security.

"The overwhelming majority of voters are going to cast their ballots on the two big issues of the economy and the war on terrorism," Reed said.

"But for many voters, including traditional Democratic voters, the fact that John Kerry is so out of step with their basic values is going to be an issue," he added.

Kerry's campaign has signaled a multipronged defense against GOP attacks on his social views. One is to note that he has moderated some of his positions.

After opposing capital punishment in all instances, he endorsed the death penalty for terrorists after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Recently, Kerry said he believes states have the right not to recognize gay marriages performed elsewhere, even without the authority granted in the Defense of Marriage Act.

Throughout most of his political career, Kerry also has tried to ground himself in the cultural mainstream by emphasizing his experiences as a prosecutor in Massachusetts and, above all, a combat veteran in Vietnam.

Perhaps the most common response from Kerry on social issues, though, has been to portray them as a diversion from economic concerns. His campaign struck that note yesterday.

"John Kerry is going to connect with Southern voters on kitchen-table issues," said Chad Clanton, a Kerry spokesperson.

"George Bush can't even see the problems they are facing down South . . . the job losses, the skyrocketing health-care costs, the rising college-tuition costs, and the stagnant wages that have put middle-class families in a world of hurt," Clanton added.

But many analysts believe Kerry will have difficulty gaining an audience on economic issues in the South and states that border it unless he can prevent Republicans from framing him as out of touch with the region's values.

"These social issues have certainly been very important [for Republicans] in defining Northern, liberal Democrats as people who don't share the values of a lot of Southerners," Black said.