Kerry Outlines Centrist Strategy in a ‘Contract’ With Middle Class

Ten years after Republicans launched their “Contract With America” that sought to imbue the federal government with conservative values, Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry on Friday outlined what he termed a “Contract With America’s Middle Class” based on centrist themes such as balanced budgets and national security.

In a speech to members of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Massachusetts senator said he has been unfairly caricatured by President Bush and other Republicans as a spendthrift liberal, with little interest in national defense.

He pledged to be as tough as Bush in waging the war on terrorism, but more strategic; to emphasize tax policies that would benefit the middle class over the wealthy and to slash wasteful bureaucracy.

“Middle-class Americans are now paying more of the national budget,” Kerry told his audience. “Wealthy Americans are paying less. The middle class [tax] burden has gone up.”

Kerry said he supported tax credits to help middle-class families pay for healthcare and college tuition. He also said he would seek to cut taxes for most businesses.

Kerry’s message frequently echoed that of President Clinton, the Democrat who most successfully seized the political middle in recent times. But Republicans said they would continue to stress what they said was Kerry’s record of supporting cuts for the military, passing little legislation and acting indecisively on a range of issues.

His remarks came on the same day that the Kerry campaign released the medical records from his time as a Navy lieutenant who served two tours of combat duty in Vietnam.

There were no new revelations on the three wounds that Kerry suffered -- resulting in three Purple Hearts and a discharge from duty as a gunboat commander four months into his second tour.

The records were released to reporters for 30 minutes by the Kerry campaign, which did not allow copies to be made. They showed that the young officer had pneumonia twice during his training.

Kerry’s personal physician -- answering questions about the records during a conference call -- said Kerry had allergies and asthma that made him more susceptible to pneumonia. He has since had a third bout of pneumonia.

But Dr. Gerald J. Boyle of Boston said that those episodes should be of no particular concern and that Kerry was extremely fit for his age, 60, and that overall he was in good health.

In his speech to the news executives, Kerry said the GOP’s Contract With America had been only divisive. He recalled legislative fights with Republicans that led to a temporary shut down of some federal government operations and a fight over preserving the Department of Education.

The Contract With America was unveiled shortly before the 1994 midterm election that saw Republicans gain control of the Senate and House for the first time in 50 years.

Kerry said that Bush’s promises in 2000 to change the partisan tone in Washington was a good message, but that the president has proved a polarizing political figure since taking office.

As part of his effort to stress centrist credentials, Kerry said he would have committed more American troops than the Bush administration in an attempt to capture terrorist leader Osama bin Laden during the war in Afghanistan.

“I think we made a huge mistake relying on local Afghan forces, rather than committing sufficient U.S. forces on the ground who were yearning to do the job,” Kerry said.

He also struck a conciliatory note, saying, “You can count on this: No matter who wins this presidential election, the terrorists will lose.”

Kerry said he would cap federal spending and get rid of failing federal programs -- although he did not mention any specifics.

He said that as a senator, he had supported campaign finance reform, welfare reform and Clinton’s proposal to subsidize the hiring of 100,000 more police nationwide.