Kerry resumes attacks on Bush policies

WASHINGTON -- Senator John F. Kerry, who less than three weeks ago conceded his election campaign with a call for bipartisan healing, resumed his political fight with President Bush yesterday in an e-mail message to supporters that blasted administration policies as "extreme" and indicated that the Massachusetts Democrat intends to keep an elevated profile despite his defeat.

"This is not a time for Democrats to retreat and accommodate extremists on critical principles," Kerry wrote, announcing plans for new legislation to bring healthcare to uninsured children.

The move by Kerry, coming one day after a show of unity at the dedication of the Clinton presidential library in Little Rock, Ark., signaled that he plans on using his position as his party's vanquished nominee far differently than former vice president Al Gore, who faded into civilian life after the 2000 election.

By picking up healthcare as his first cause, Kerry also indicated he may not automatically defer to the senior senator from Massachusetts, Edward M. Kennedy, on the domestic issues that have usually fallen into his portfolio. "It is a disgrace that in the wealthiest nation on earth, 8 million children go without health insurance," Kerry wrote.

In the mass e-mail message titled "The next step," which the Washington Post said was sent to about 3 million supporters who signed up on the candidate's campaign website, Kerry seized on some of the moves Bush has made since the election to quash dissent within his foreign policy agencies and to press ahead with private Social Security accounts. And as he did Wednesday, in his first Senate floor speech since Nov. 2, Kerry yesterday again attacked the ballooning deficit, which is permitted to grow once more following a congressional vote this week that raised the debt ceiling.

"It is a time to stand firm," Kerry wrote. "Despite the words of cooperation and moderate sounding promises, this administration is planning a right wing assault on values and ideals we hold most deeply. Healthy debate and diverse opinion are being eliminated from the State Department and CIA, and the cabinet is being remade to rubber stamp policies that will undermine Social Security, balloon the deficit, avoid real reforms in healthcare and education, weaken homeland security, and walk away from critical allies around the world."

The e-mail message was sent as many Democrats, vexed by their electoral losses not only at the presidential level but also in both houses of Congress, are struggling to define the future of their party and casting about for the next leader. With control of the Democratic National Committee up for grabs in the months ahead -- and with potential presidential candidates angling for prime positions in the lead-up to 2008 -- some members of the party have openly questioned Kerry's skills as a Democratic leader and his potential as a future candidate. Unlike Gore, however, who all but vanished after the 2000 election fiasco and did not emerge to oppose Bush until the debate over Iraq was underway, Kerry appears ready to combat the administration even before Bush is re-inaugurated.

"This is the beginning of a second-term effort to hold the Bush administration accountable and to stand up and fight for our principles and our values," Kerry wrote. "They want you to disappear; they are counting on that. I'm confident you will prove them wrong, and you will rewrite history again."

He continued: "Here is what I want you to know. I understand the strength, commitment, and passion that are at the core of what we built together -- and I am determined to make our collective energy and organization a force to be reckoned with in the weeks and months ahead. Let's roll up our sleeves and get back to work for our country."

On Wednesday, Kerry blasted Bush and Republicans in Congress for pursuing "borrow-and-spend" policies that are "unhealthy and irresponsible."