Kerry says he has president 'on the run'
NEW YORK -- Presidential candidate John F. Kerry yesterday declared that "George Bush is on the run" politically after weeks of Democratic attacks over job losses and the ballooning budget deficit and suggested that his candidacy has goaded the White House into ramping up the president's re-election effort earlier than expected.
The Massachusetts senator, campaigning here with African-American politicians and college students before New York's primary next Tuesday, told reporters that he believed an upcoming wave of Bush campaign ads -- which may be broadcast before the Democratic nomination is clinched -- was a sign of Republican jitters.
As he makes campaign stops in Ohio and Minnesota today, Kerry plans to launch a "nationwide jobs tour," highlighting unemployment. He also plans to broadcast a commercial in Ohio that reflects uncertainty about the economy.
"I think George Bush is on the run, and I think he's on the run because he doesn't have a record to run on," the Democratic front-runner said during a news conference at York College in Queens, N.Y., after a town-hall forum on campus that drew more than 500 people. "Workers are feeling anxiety on a daily basis as to whether they're next to lose their job. I don't want Americans living with that kind of anxiety -- I don't think we have to."
In a local television interview after the news conference, Kerry said that, if he wins his party's nomination, he would agree not to run negative political ads -- and would limit campaign spending -- if Bush agreed to do so as well.
"I would certainly agree to run not one negative advertisement if they'd agree to run no negative advertising, but I doubt very much that they'll do that," Kerry said.
While Kerry focused on Bush's record on the economy, his campaign advisers yesterday moved to blunt the momentum that Democratic rival John Edwards appears to be enjoying in the run-up to Super Tuesday next week.
Kerry aides said their campaign had made television advertising buys in Georgia and Ohio, which both hold primaries next Tuesday, that was about five times greater than Edwards's ad buys in those states. Both the Kerry and Edwards camps have purchased television time to run commercials beginning today in upstate New York as well.
In all three states, the Kerry campaign plans to air one of its most-used television spots, featuring a Vietnam crewmate of Kerry's speaking about their war experiences. The campaign is also preparing a new ad about the economy to air in Ohio, as well as a new spot for Georgia voters that will include two well-known politicians there, US Representative John Lewis and former senator Max Cleland.
Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter declined to say if the commercials were intended to match Edwards's advertising plans in those states, but noted: "It made sense for us to go up in those states." She added that the campaign had not foreclosed buying additional ads in those states or advertising in the seven other states with primaries next week.
Yesterday morning, Kerry mingled with dozens of black political leaders at Harlem's Alhambra Ballroom and shared concerns about a host of urban ills -- schools, homelessness, unemployment, among others. Some of the leaders, like Manhattan borough president Virginia Fields, had endorsed Kerry when he was far down in the polls; others, including Representative Charles Rangel, who had endorsed Wesley K. Clark in December, joined Kerry after he emerged as the front-runner.
"You're looking at the people the president stole the election from," Rangel, the MC of the event, told Kerry on the speaker's dais.
About 25 African-American leaders stood by Kerry's side at the Harlem event yesterday, including former New York mayor David Dinkins, who endorsed Kerry and accused the Bush administration of making more Americans homeless by underfunding programs for affordable housing.
"Every time you walk past somebody curled up on the street on a grate trying to keep warm . . . be mindful of the fact that this is caused by a Republican administration in Washington," Dinkins said.
Minutes after Kerry left the Harlem event, Bush's reelection team e-mailed a statement from three New York members of Congress taking issue with the criticism of the president. "Steady leadership requires making principled decisions based on what is important to the American people -- not advocating policies that would derail our economic recovery and weaken our ability to win the war on terror," Representative Sue Kelly stated in the e-mail.
Patrick Healy can be reached at phealy@globe.com.
