Kerry Ad Lays Blame on Bush

A swirl of charges and countercharges about the attack on Sen. John F. Kerry’s military service dominated the presidential campaign for a fourth consecutive day, as the Democratic candidate unveiled a television ad Sunday accusing President Bush of a political smear.

Bush’s reelection campaign denounced the commercial and released a letter it planned to send to television stations today saying Kerry’s claim that the president was behind the attacks of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth was “completely false and without any evidence.” The letter requested that stations “set the record straight” in their news programming.

Neither candidate campaigned publicly Sunday, yet the sustained intensity of the back and forth over the Swift boat group’s charges spoke to how the subject has engulfed the race.

The anti-Kerry group, which has been financed largely by a prominent Republican in Texas, has gone after the Massachusetts senator aggressively in the last month with a television commercial alleging that he concocted his wartime injuries for political gain. The group plans to begin running a new ad Tuesday featuring former prisoners of war lambasting Kerry’s antiwar activities.

Last week, Kerry spoke out against the attacks, accusing the veterans group of doing Bush’s “dirty work” and calling on the president to denounce the ad. Neither the White House nor the Bush campaign has done so.

On Sunday, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, Kerry’s running mate, spoke out about the attack ads, saying it was “a moment of truth for President Bush.” “Mr. President, the clock is running,” he said during a swing through his home state, according to a statement released by the campaign. “The American people deserve to hear from you, and they deserve to hear from you that these ads should come down.”

In its new 30-second commercial, the Kerry campaign seeks to tie Bush directly to the group’s activities, invoking Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who condemned their tactics as “dishonest and dishonorable” earlier in the month.

A male narrator says: “Instead of solutions, George Bush’s campaign supports a front group attacking John Kerry’s military record. Attacks called smears, lies. Sen. McCain calls them dishonest.” As the screen flashes split images of Bush and a young Kerry in Vietnam, the narrator continues: “Bush smeared John McCain four years ago. Now, he’s doing it to John Kerry.” “George Bush: Denounce the smear,” the ad concludes. “Get back to the issues. America deserves better.”

The campaign is not purchasing new advertising time for the commercial, but is instead rotating it with another ad it began running last week in Wisconsin, Ohio and West Virginia that features a former Green Beret who was saved by Kerry in Vietnam.

Bush spokesman Steve Schmidt called the new commercial “false and baseless.” “The Bush campaign has no connection to the 527 ads against the Kerry campaign, and has called for all of these ads to stop,” Schmidt said in a statement, referring to the Bush campaign’s stated opposition to all campaign advertising by independent groups known as 527s. “The Kerry campaign has declined to join in this call.”

Meanwhile, members of the Swift boat group continued to be pressed about their accounts of Kerry’s actions. During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” veteran Van Odell admitted that he did not have any proof that Kerry fabricated an “after-action” report saying he faced enemy fire March 13, 1969. Kerry, a Navy lieutenant, was awarded the Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart for that mission.

“I do not have a single document,” Odell said. “I have the fact that I wasn’t wounded in that 5,000 meters of fire that he wrote about.” Also Sunday, former Sen. Bob Dole suggested that Kerry should apologize to other Vietnam War veterans for his leadership in the antiwar movement, and questioned the extent of his injuries.

“He wasn’t the only one in Vietnam,” Dole said. “Here’s, you know, a good guy, good friend. I respect his record. But three Purple Hearts and never bled that I know of. I mean, they’re all superficial wounds.” Kerry noted in a speech last week that he still carries shrapnel in his leg from his service.

The Democratic candidate did not address the controversy Sunday. During a swing through the Hamptons -- where he raised $2 million Saturday night for a fund controlled jointly by the campaign and the Democratic Party, -- he and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, attended Mass at a Catholic church in Montauk, N.Y., and visited film director Steven Spielberg at his East Hampton estate.

Kerry then returned to Boston, where he was scheduled to remain before heading out on the campaign trail Tuesday.