Kerry defends Edwards against claims of inexperience

Democratic presidential candidate Senator John F. Kerry, in a national television interview last night, compared the youthfulness of his running mate, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, to that of President John F. Kennedy, and said Edwards was ''more qualified" to lead the nation than George W. Bush was four years ago.

Kerry, appearing with Edwards on the CBS news program ''60 Minutes," was asked about criticism -- from President Bush and other Republicans -- that the first-term Edwards lacked experience fighting terrorism, guiding the economy, and crafting foreign and domestic policy.

''I've worked with presidents. I understand talent and ability," Kerry said. ''I also know that [Edwards] is eight years older than Jack Kennedy was when he became president of the United States. He is more qualified, more prepared, in national affairs and national issues than George Bush was when he became president."

Edwards is 51; Kennedy took office at 43.

Kennedy, who served three terms in the US House and a term in the Senate, is a hero to both Democrats, particularly Kerry, who has often hailed the late president on the campaign trail for a legacy of optimism and ambitious goals, such as sending a man to the moon.

In light of a new Senate finding that US intelligence agencies seemed to overstate the Iraq threat, Kerry was asked whether he is against the war in Iraq. ''I think the president made a mistake in the way he took us to war," he replied. CBS reporter Lesley Stahl repeatedly pressed Kerry to label the war a mistake, but he declined. Kerry also said that despite the Senate findings, he did not regret his vote in 2002 authorizing Bush to go to war. ''I believe based on the information we had, it's the correct vote," Kerry said.

Kerry said that he and Edwards had put their primary-season fight behind them and that he hoped Edwards would take the job of vice president ''even further" than Al Gore did. Kerry said he had made no assurances to Edwards about his role in policy decisions, but he also underscored that he is not opposed to having a vice president with ambitions of his own.

''Ambition is good. Al Gore wanted to be president. . . . President Clinton knew Al Gore wanted to be president," Kerry said.

For much of the interview, Edwards either defended Kerry from Republican criticism or went on the attack himself. But on the issue of religion, Edwards first echoed Kerry's view that faith was important in their own lives and then added, ''It is not the job of the president of the United States to decide what the religion of America is or what the religion of the world should be."

Kerry rejected Republican assertions, many of them leveled in Bush campaign commercials, that he flip-flops on issues.

''If you spend $85-90 million, then a few people may believe one thing or another," Kerry said, referring to the Bush advertising.

Edwards then said of Bush: ''You've been president of the US for four years. . . . You've spent [up to] $100 million on television, almost all of it talking about your not-yet-nominated opponent. What does that say about your administration and its accomplishments? And second, flip-flopper? You've got to be kidding me. I mean, a guy who put his life on the line for the men who served with him in Vietnam every day? Ask them what he's made of."

Late in the interview, the candidates' wives, Teresa Heinz Kerry and Elizabeth Edwards, also took some questions, with Heinz Kerry addressing Republican attacks on the personal wealth of the Democratic ticket.

''First of all, those very same people never criticized my late husband for his money or his wealth. In fact they used it," she said, referring to Senator John Heinz, a Republican and heir to the Heinz ketchup fortune, which went to his wife and children after he died in a plane crash. ''And his money was just dandy."

Heinz Kerry, who has said she would not want a policy role, said keeping her husband ''honest" was part of being a political spouse.

''Honest means keep true to yourself, because there's so many people around anyone in power that inflate their egos, or try to destroy them for that matter," she said. ''It's the person that knows them best that has to stand by them and keep them whole. Sometimes it's to keep the ego down, sometimes it's to bolster it up."

Kerry spent yesterday at home on Beacon Hill. He received a two-hour national security briefing and also spoke with Edwards by phone and worked on his upcoming acceptance speech for the Democratic National Convention, according to campaign officials.

Edwards, meanwhile, attended services at Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh, N.C., his family's regular place of worship.

Globe staff writer Raja Mishra contributed from Raleigh, N.C. Patrick Healy can be reached at phealy@globe.com.