Kerry defends campaign amid Democrats' criticism

LOS ANGELES -- John F. Kerry yesterday countered whispers of criticism within some Democratic circles that he was running a lackluster campaign for the presidency, pointing to a recent poll indicating that he is leading President Bush and arguing that his own $25 million ad blitz begun this week projects a campaign "that is active and on the move."

"I only secured the nomination about 6, seven weeks ago and we had $2 million in the bank," the presumptive Democratic nominee said during his first news conference in three weeks. "I've raised $80 million and broken all records in seven weeks, and the last time that I looked, the CBS/ New York Times poll had me ahead after $70 million had been spent to distort, mislead, and destroy my record. I think the American people are waiting for a real conversation about where we are going to take the country and what we're going to do to make America strong. I have a plan."

Kerry added: "George Bush, sure he can make decisions and lead, but look at the direction he's taking us. It's the wrong direction. I can turn around and lead it in the right direction. We are now out on television advertising. I'm confident that over the next weeks, people are going to see a campaign that is active and on the move. We're six months from the election, and I like where we are today."

Kerry brushed off a question about whether his wife, philanthropist Teresa Heinz Kerry, should release her income tax records, saying, "She's not running for president; I am." In addition, he declined to take a position on the administration's pending request for $25 billion for ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying that while he conceptually supported providing troops with whatever materiel they needed, "I need to see what the relationship is between this money and where we are today."

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts senator declined to say whether he agreed with plans to shut down Interstate 93 near the FleetCenter during the Democratic National Convention, explaining that he is only just beginning to focus on the planning. "But I trust the people who are involved in making the decisions," he said.

The Vietnam veteran also dismissed recent criticism from some of his past commanders in the war, who deemed him unfit to be commander in chief because of antiwar statements he made after his military service. He also said he deserved the first of his three Purple Heart medals despite the suggestion from a doctor who said he treated him in the field that he may have been wounded by an errant mortar shot instead of by enemy fire.

"I'm very proud of my service, and I'm very proud of having opposed the war when I returned," Kerry said.

Taking aim at his past commanders, who criticized him during a news conference Tuesday in Washington, the former Navy lieutenant defended his antiwar statements. The statements included accusations of atrocities by American troops, a label he now says he regrets.

"I think it was the thing to do. I spoke out as a matter of conscience. I'm proud that I stood up to Richard Nixon; they did not. I'm proud that I fought for veterans for 35 years to keep faith with them. I'm proud that I led the fight to help get POW/ MIA accountability; they did not. I'm proud that I fought for Agent Orange legislation; they did not. So I'm proud of my record, and I will stand by my record, and my record will speak for itself."

The conference was arranged after Kerry spoke at a Cinco de Mayo celebration in East Los Angeles. The impetus was to react to reports of prisoner abuse in Iraq by American soldiers, acts that Kerry labeled "absolutely unacceptable and inexcusable."

In remarks to students at Woodrow Wilson High School, which is heavily Hispanic, both Kerry and his wife addressed the crowd in English and Spanish. The senator focused on his plans to improve public school education, the route to success for many immigrant families, and highlighted a program unveiled a day earlier in Albuquerque that is aimed at reducing the cumulative total of high school dropouts by more than 1 million during the next five years.

"Fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, the great court case that helped to say there's no such thing as a separate and an equal school system, 50 years later in America, I regret to say to you, we have a separate and unequal school system," Kerry said from a stage festooned with balloons in white, green, and red, the colors of the Mexican flag. "And we deserve a president whose first priority is not to reward the most rewarded, not to make comfortable the most comfortable, but to help open the doors of opportunity in the United States of America. That's what we're here to do."

Across the country in the East Room of the White House, Bush used the holiday to laud the contributions of Mexican-Americans and other Hispanic Americans, a critical voting bloc during the election this fall.

Emilio Estefan, husband of Cuban-American pop star Gloria Estefan, put together a musical show featuring a performance from a live band, whose members crooned in Spanish while Bush listened.

Bush often shows off the diversity of his administration during events geared toward racial minorities, and the Cinco de Mayo celebration was no exception. He pulled in a wide range of Hispanic members of his administration, including White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales, Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega, and Hector Barreto, head of the Small Business Administration.

"Hispanic Americans serve our country in all kinds of ways," Bush said, noting that 130,000 Hispanic Americans are in the US military. "Hispanic Americans have fought bravely in all our wars, including our own fight for independence. And for their valor, over three dozen have received the Congressional Medal of Honor."

The Kerrys also visited Cardinal Roger Michael Mahony, the archbishop of Los Angeles, amid criticism that the senator continues to receive Communion in both Catholic and Protestant churches, despite teachings against that practice and his personal support for abortion rights, which the Catholic Church opposes. Kerry sought the meeting but did not disclose the reason.

Wayne Washington of the Globe staff contributed from Washington. Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com.