NATION : President Doesn’t Know What He Wants to Do, Sen. Kennedy Charges

WASHINGTON — Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) charged today that President Bush is floundering because he doesn’t know what he wants to do as President.

In a speech at Yale University, Kennedy also criticized his own party, saying Michael S. Dukakis lost to Bush last November because the Massachusetts governor did not have a message.

Kennedy said Bush lacks ideas and urged Democrats to fill the breach with creative initiatives.

“This Republican President--and perhaps the Republican Party itself--have run out of ideas,” Kennedy said. “The Administration has no agenda other than coping, no real budget, no major initiatives and very little to say about what George Bush calls ‘the vision thing.’ The President holds office but doesn’t know what to do with it.”