Bush Brushes Off Vietnam Debate

President Bush’s reelection campaign Sunday rebuffed front-runner John F. Kerry’s invitation to debate their military experiences during the Vietnam War, and said that it would continue to challenge his voting record on defense matters and the war against terrorism.

Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot responded to a Saturday letter in which the Massachusetts senator contended that Republican lawmakers and supporters of Bush were denigrating his military service and later opposition to the Vietnam War.

Racicot on Sunday called on Kerry to elevate the tone of his own campaign, and without directly responding to Kerry’s invitation to debate said that Bush and his campaign “look forward to a debate with the eventual Democratic nominee.”

“Your letter claims that supporters of our campaign questioned your service and patriotism. In fact, that simply wasn’t the case,” Racicot wrote. “Our campaign is not questioning your patriotism or military service, but your votes and statements on the issues now facing our country,” including defense, national security and “the war on terror.”

Kerry’s supporters countered by highlighting his battlefield experience.

As he introduced Kerry at a town-hall meeting in Atlanta on Sunday, former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland, a veteran, called him “an American hero,” adding that he and Kerry “bled and almost died on the same battlefield.”

“If they’re going to challenge my commitment to the defense of this country, I’m going to challenge them right back,” Kerry said of his critics.

The back-and-forth between Kerry and Bush’s campaign suggests that they are preparing for a one-on-one general election fight. But there’s a party nomination Kerry must win first.

Surrounded by overflowing crowds, he and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina preached populist messages Sunday as they condemned the Bush administration as indifferent to the strains on working Americans.

The top two remaining Democratic candidates sounded similar tones throughout the day, with Edwards appearing with striking steelworkers in Ohio and Kerry adopting much of his rival’s rhetoric during his stop in Atlanta.

As the next big round of Democratic contests on March 2 rapidly approaches, both men have increasingly appealed to the working class, seeking to win over voters disgruntled with the economy and to pick up backers of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who withdrew from the race last week.

In Atlanta, Kerry attended services at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor. At the town-hall meeting at a local theater, he sought to portray himself as someone who understands the struggles of the working class.

The Massachusetts senator peeled off his suit coat and appeared relaxed and upbeat as he fielded questions for more than an hour from an audience that spilled out of the building.

He called the nation’s economic system “stacked against the average person,” lambasting the administration for the unemployment rate and calling for more restrictions on international trade to prevent American companies from shipping jobs overseas.

“All over this country, this administration has ripped the heart out of the heartland,” he said. “The gap between the haves and have-nots is growing wider, and we have still today in the year 2004 a separate and unequal school system in America and that’s unacceptable.”

Those crammed in the theater to hear him whooped and cheered, repeatedly rising to their feet in applause.

“I think he has common sense and wisdom, and we have to have that in our country because we have so many problems,” said Jaquie Kingsland, 60, an unemployed social worker.

As for Edwards, she said, “his time will come. But I’m looking for someone who has experience.”

During a swing through Ohio, Edwards sought to portray himself as the true populist in the race, saying he alone has addressed the economic disparity in the United States.

After attending two church services in Columbus, the North Carolina senator visited a metal-processing plant in Niles, where he stood on a folding chair and addressed steelworkers who have been on the picket line since October, locked out by their company after a stall in contract negotiations.

“I am somebody that would wake up every morning in the White House fighting for you and fighting for your jobs,” Edwards said, noting that his mother is a retired union letter carrier and his brother a union electrician.

“I can’t promise you to bring back every single job that’s been lost,” he said. “That’s not the truth. What I can do is promise you that I will fight for what I fought for my entire life. I will fight for people like my own family.”

During an earlier stop at Ohio State University, Edwards was greeted by a crowd of more than 1,000 people that filled up two rooms and lined up outside.

“I liked his stance on the whole trade situation, and his stance on taxes -- those are the things that really separate him, on issues, from Kerry,” said Carrie Reinhard, 26, a former Dean supporter now leaning toward Edwards. “I just don’t trust Kerry.”

Gold reported from Atlanta and Martelle from Ohio.