Kerry calls critics of his war record 'petty'

PHILADELPHIA -- After a day in which he worked to both shine a light on his political agenda and cast doubt on the Republicans' upcoming convention, John F. Kerry last night diverted from his script and instead took on critics of his Vietnam War record.

The Democratic presidential nominee, standing before a statue of Benjamin Franklin at the Franklin Institute, recalled for a crowd attending a party fund-raiser that a local congressman had just told him he ''is hearing these commentators, Republicans, all of them, saying, 'Well, John Kerry was only in Vietnam for four months, blah, blah, blah.' "

That criticism, as well as questions about whether he deserved the three Purple Hearts, Bronze Star, and Silver Star he received, have been raised in a new book and television ad produced by members of The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a Republican-backed organization. Its members also complain about Kerry's decision to oppose the war upon returning from Vietnam, as well as declarations at the time that, under terms of the Geneva Conventions, servicemen had committed atrocities during the war.

''Well, I was there for longer than that, number one," Kerry said, offering his rebuttal. ''Number two, I served two tours. Number three, they thought enough of my service to make me an aide to an admiral [upon leaving Vietnam], and the Navy 35 years ago made the awards that it made, through the normal process that they make, and I'm proud of them and I'm proud of my service and I'm proud that I stood up against the war when I came home, because it was the right thing to do."

Kerry labeled his critics ''so petty it's almost pathetic."

The audience of several hundred burst into applause, as they had moments earlier when Governor Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania mentioned the Swift Boat Veterans ads been running in the state, a battleground in the November election.

''If you want this election to be decided on the Vietnam War," Rendell said, ''then I ask you one question: Who served this country better during the Vietnam War, John Kerry or George Bush? Simple as that. Case closed."

Kerry's campaign had intended to devote the day to undercutting next week's Republican National Convention by having Kerry travel to the host city, New York, and declare that he expects to hear only ''empty slogans" and ''personal attacks" from President Bush and his party, not an agenda for a second term.

Speaking to a largely college-age audience at Cooper Union, the senator did not directly refer to the controversy stirred up by the Swift Boat Veterans. Nonetheless, he earned a standing ovation when he reprised a line from his own nomination acceptance speech and declared, ''I defended this country as a young man and I will defend it as president of the United States."

The Massachusetts senator also denounced what he said were ''the tactics of fear and smear" employed by his foes before saying, ''The world will listen to what the Republicans say when they come here. But words, slogans, and personal attacks cannot disguise what they have done -- and left undone.

''They are going to say that we've 'turned the corner'; that the job is getting done. They're even going to claim, as they already have, that this is the best economy of our lifetimes," he added. ''They have obviously decided that some people will believe anything, no matter how fictional or how far-fetched, if they just repeat it often enough . . . You can't cover up reality with a few empty slogans. You can't lead America by misleading the American people."

The president's campaign committee responded to Kerry's criticism by pointing out that he spoke from the same stage where Bill Clinton proposed a tax increase as part of his 1993 deficit-reduction package. It passed by a single vote, without any Republican support, and Kerry often casts himself as the tie-breaker. He argues the legislation jump-started the economy and helped create 23 million new jobs during Clinton's presidency.

''John Kerry has run a relentlessly negative campaign and has hid behind $63 million in attack ads from shadowy 527s, one of which is run by his former campaign manager," said a statement issued by Bush spokesman Steve Schmidt. ''These soft-money groups have accused the president of lying, poisoning pregnant women, and condoning torture. John Kerry spent just 26 seconds talking about his Senate record at the Democratic convention, because his positions are out of the mainstream and he doesn't want to talk about the issues."

The Cooper Union speech marked the beginning of Kerry's effort to counter an expected onslaught of criticism aimed at both him and the Democratic Party during the Republican convention, which kicks off Monday afternoon. He will travel across the country this week, delivering his stump speech and focusing on economic issues during stops in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and other battleground states. He also will attend fund-raisers in California aimed at bolstering the bank account of the Democratic National Committee, which has been advertising on his behalf.

Kerry's campaign also began to try to manage expectations for the race coming out of the Republican convention. It distributed a memo from one of its top pollsters, Mark Mellman, in which he said, ''Most current polls show the race quite close. This gives the president substantial room to bounce. By contrast, Senator Kerry entered his convention in a far stronger position than the average challenger. . . . This gave Senator Kerry much less room to bounce."

Later, during an appearance on Comedy Central's ''The Daily Show," Kerry himself raised expectations for Bush in terms of the approaching fall presidential debates.

''The president has won every debate he's ever had," Kerry said. ''People need to understand that. He beat Ann Richards. He beat Al Gore. So he's a good debater."

Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com.