Healey calls for Kerry to resignPage 2 of 2 -- Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt yesterday repeated Healey's attack on Kerry as an absentee senator, but stopped short of saying that the Democratic rival should resign his seat.
''The criticism is dead on," he said. ''People in Massachusetts are not being represented by two United States senators, because John Kerry has missed the overwhelming majority of his votes." Yesterday afternoon, Dole -- the 1996 Republican presidential nominee, who resigned his Senate leadership position just before he was nominated by his party -- reinforced the GOP message during an appearance on CNN. ''I think what he should do is what I did on June 11, 1996, and to say, you know, I want to run for president, and I'm going to walk out of the Senate," Dole said. When Kerry has skipped Senate votes on high-profile legislation, be it Iraq military funding or prescription drug policies, Republican officials have inundated reporters arguing that Kerry is hypocritical in bashing Bush on those issues while not taking the time to speak out and vote on them. The Bush campaign keeps a running log of Kerry's missed votes, now more than 130 pages long. Kerry has pledged to return to the Capitol any time his vote would make a decisive difference on an issue. On Super Tuesday, last March 2, for instance, he canceled campaign appearances and rearranged a victory party so he could return to Washington and vote on closely fought gun-control measures, though ultimately his vote did not prove to be crucial. Republican Party officials say that by raising Kerry's missed votes in tandem with his refusal to resign, they can reinforce the Bush campaign's caricature of him as a flip-flopper: delving into domestic and foreign policy options on the campaign trail, while missing votes and refusing to give way to someone else from Massachusetts to represent voters' interests on those issues. Romney, avoiding the political fray, did not appear at the press conference, and his aides said he would not be available to speak to reporters. Healey said the governor backed her call for Kerry's resignation. Romney has disavowed any interest in the Senate seat, but Healey aides would neither confirm or deny that she would accept an appointment. Massachusetts Democrats quickly accused Healey of holding a double standard for not applying her demands to George Bush's run for the presidency in 2000 when he was frequently absent from his duties as Texas governor. ''Arguably, an incumbent governor has many more administrative responsibilities than an incumbent United State senator has," said state Democratic Party chairman Philip Johnston. Asked if George Bush should have resigned as governor of Texas in 2000, Healey stepped around the question. ''We're talking about John Kerry's current record representing the people of Massachusetts," Healey said. ''My responsibility is toward them. I was elected to represent the people of Massachusetts, just as John Kerry was. John Kerry is not doing his job, and it's incumbent on me to point out the fact that we would be better represented if he were to resign and allow that position to be filled by someone who can devote 100 percent of their time and energy to representing Massachusetts."
Glen Johnson of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Elise Castelli contributed to this report. © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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