National security is Bush's theme
Democrats fault ad's 9/11 reference as 'desperation'
ALBUQUERQUE -- President Bush vowed to bring the nation's "enemies to justice before they hurt us again" in a new television ad launched yesterday as he emphasized his national security credentials on a campaign swing through the Southwest.
In the ad, Bush recalls the imagery of the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in explaining his belief that the nation must be proactive in confronting threats. The ad does not directly mention the war in Iraq -- and, unlike many of Bush's previous ads, it doesn't mention Democratic candidate John F. Kerry, either -- though the reference to Sept. 11 drew criticism from Democrats.
"I can't imagine the great agony of a mom or a dad having to make the decision about which child to pick up first on Sept. the 11th," Bush says in the ad. "We cannot hesitate, we cannot yield, we must do everything in our power to bring an enemy to justice before they hurt us again."
Senator Kerry's campaign called the ad's reference to the terrorist attacks "proof" that the Bush campaign "has reached the point of desperation."
"He can't speak to a single issue voters care about -- not jobs, not health care, not deficits," said Chad Clanton, a Kerry campaign spokesman. "The president has his back against the wall, so now he invokes Sept. 11th in his ads."
The ad underscores Bush's continued use of national security as a campaign issue, even as polls show voters have gained trust in Kerry on the issue of protecting the nation from terrorism.
This week's campaign swing was billed as a chance for Bush to begin to roll out his agenda for a second term. But as he travels with Senator John McCain, he has spent much of his time on the stump delivering extended explanations for his decision to invade Iraq, usually to the raucous cheers of heavily partisan crowds.
Yesterday, as he told an audience in Albuquerque about the importance of keeping taxes low to support small businesses, he fell back on broad-brush approaches to domestic policy in asking for votes.
"I want to continue to rally and encourage the soldiers of compassion," he said.
Bush then explained the reasons for the economy's troubles, with prominent mention of Sept. 11. Responding to questions and comments about jobs and education, he repeatedly fell back on discussions of the war and his response to threats.
"I know what I'm doing when it comes to winning this war, and I'm not going to be sending mixed signals," the president said. "There's an enemy out there which hates us."
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Bush will continue to discuss threats to the nation's safety prominently among his goals for his presidency.
"He's going to continue to talk about our nation's highest priorities, and those include winning the war on terrorism and strengthening our economy," McClellan said. "But certainly the threats we face in the 21st century -- confronting those threats is one of this nation's highest priorities."
National security has provided the front for the candidates' most direct clashes of recent days. Yesterday, Vice President Dick Cheney issued a statement mocking Kerry for what he said have been changing positions on whether he would have gone to war to remove Saddam Hussein from power.
"Now some of his own aides are saying that his vote to authorize force wasn't really a vote to go to war," Cheney said. "John Kerry is caught in a tangled web of all his shifts and changes. We need a commander-in-chief who is steady and steadfast."
The Kerry campaign, meanwhile, served notice that it will make increasing use of Cheney as a campaign issue, particularly his past leadership of energy giant Halliburton. Tad Devine, a Kerry campaign strategist, told reporters in a conference call that the campaign will remind voters of the Bush administration's ties to Halliburton, which has come under criticism for failing to fully account for its government work in Iraq. "We think it has become such a potent and powerful issue," Devine said.
McClellan dismissed the Halliburton threat, and said Bush trusts the Defense Department to iron out accounting problems with its contractors. "That's the same old political attacks that they've been waging for a long time," he said. "You have someone that cannot stand on his own record and is trying to do anything to divert attention away from his record, which is out of the mainstream."
Rick Klein can be reached at rklein@globe.com. 