To aid Obama, Kerry takes on an old foe

Website targets new book critical of Illinois senator

Addressing supporters yes- terday, Senator John Kerry said, ''We know the game, we've learned some things.''

Senator John F. Kerry yesterday rejoined the battle with one of his fiercest antagonists from his 2004 presidential bid, launching a website to combat a new book highly critical of Barack Obama, his party's presumptive nominee this year.

The initial target is Jerome Corsi, who wrote "Obama Nation" and also was coauthor in 2004 of "Unfit for Command," which attacked Kerry's Vietnam War record in 2004. But Kerry's website - called "Truth Fights Back" - will also seek to counter assaults on other Democrats this election.

"John Kerry can and will fight for the truth on cable news, but we need all of us to battle against the smears in every way," it says on the website. "By signing up, you'll stay on top of the right-wing smear machine and help us battle it back! This site is designed for activists like you to take back the truth from the Bush/McCain politics of Karl Rove that have come to dominate the GOP. So sign up and join in the fight, and start reporting in some smears!"

The website will be funded by Kerry's political action committee, and could bring more supporters to the senator, who is seeking reelection in Massachusetts.

The site is similar to the Fight the Smears website that the Obama campaign itself launched in June to truth-squad the raft of Internet-fueled rumors about his alleged lack of patriotism and that he is "a secret Muslim." As of yesterday, Obama's site did not directly address Corsi's new book, "Obama Nation."

The New York Times reported yesterday that the book will debut at No. 1 on the Times nonfiction hardcover bestseller list on Sunday, despite challenges to the accuracy of its assertions, among them that Obama is a stealth radical who might have never ceased his youthful experimentation with drugs.

"The goal is to defeat Obama," Corsi told the Times. "I don't want Obama to be in office."

Since his razor-thin loss to President Bush four years ago, Kerry has often said he didn't react quickly and forcefully enough to attacks on him, most notably by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and by Corsi. The attacks helped undermine Kerry's standing as a decorated veteran with substantial foreign policy and national security expertise.

In a message to supporters yesterday, Kerry said, "We know the game, we've learned some things . . ."

"You can't just play defense against smears, pointing out how they aren't true," the message continued. "You've got to play offense, too, exposing the whole cynical game for what it is: an attempt to keep us from talking about the real issues and ultimately changing our country for the better. The Republicans have nothing to run on, no ideas to push, no solutions for America. They'll run a campaign of laughable gimmicks and outright distortions and lies. But we can fight back with the truth - and the truth can win this time. Let's do it."