Bush on the Attack as Campaign Heads South

A newly aggressive George W. Bush unleashed a volley of charges against chief opponent John McCain on Thursday, comparing the Arizona senator to a liberal Washington insider and questioning whether his war hero background qualifies him for the presidency.

McCain shot back, calling the attack “foolishness” that takes the campaign’s focus off important issues, such as shoring up Social Security and paying off the national debt.

The daylong deluge by Bush showed just how seriously the Texas governor is taking the challenge from McCain, who still lags far behind Bush in fund-raising and name recognition. McCain won an unexpectedly overwhelming victory in New Hampshire on Tuesday and has said he is counting on a win in South Carolina on Feb. 19 to continue his bid for the White House.

The turbulent day of campaigning also saw Family Research Council President Gary Bauer drop out of the race. Bauer finished with barely 1% of the vote in New Hampshire.

Bush raced through three states Thursday with a sharper message after two new polls showed McCain drawing close and even passing Bush in South Carolina. He and McCain exchanged charges and counter-charges throughout the day.

McCain’s Military Background at Issue

Though he praised McCain, a Vietnam veteran who spent 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war, Bush questioned whether that history translates into leadership ability. McCain has made his background a focal point of his campaign, saying in television ads that he is the “only one” who has the qualifications to be commander in chief.

“There’s a big difference between someone who has a distinguished military career and someone who is ready to lead the country,” Bush said.

McCain declined to accuse Bush of breaking their handshake pledge last month to avoid negative campaigning but responded bluntly: “It’s foolishness, that’s all. I think it’s foolishness. We should be debating the issues.”

Bush, continuing his offensive at a news conference that included an appearance by a veterans’ group, then accused McCain of not doing enough for veterans suffering from ailments related to military service, such as Gulf War Syndrome.

McCain Stresses Veterans Issues

McCain responded that he welcomed any challenge from Bush to debate on veteran or military issues. His aides passed out a list of bills McCain either co-sponsored or supported to help veterans, including the Agent Orange Act of 1991, which provided disability compensation benefits to veterans affected by exposure to the defoliant commonly used in the Vietnam War.

“Why don’t we have a real good debate on veterans, defense, national security and foreign policy? Any time. Anywhere,” McCain said.

Bush, at each appearance Thursday, was careful to distance himself from “Washington insiders.” He said he was stunned in the last Republican debate in New Hampshire when, “all of a sudden, I’m tagged as the Washington guy.” He vowed: “I’m not going to let that happen in South Carolina.”

He painted the Arizona senator as the un-Republican, a veritable Democrat who “came at me from the left in New Hampshire on three key issues: taxes, education and health care.” As frequently as possible, Bush claimed ownership of the label “conservative.”

While giving an old-fashioned stump speech outside the courthouse in Sumter, S.C., Bush denounced a McCain television ad that alleges Bush’s tax plan leaves nothing for Social Security.

“Any ad being run by John McCain that says, implies or infers that I do not set aside money for Social Security is Washington-style politics,” he said. “My plan sets aside $2 trillion for Social Security, and that’s exactly the facts.”

Bush’s forceful tone was part of a strategy adopted by the Bush campaign staff even as exit polls Tuesday in New Hampshire showed him trailing McCain.

McCain’s position on tax cuts, education reform and health care may have played well in quirky New Hampshire, Bush communications director Karen Hughes said, “but we don’t expect them to do as well in the conservative South.”

Hughes said her staff wasted no time reminding Republican fence-sitters that “New Hampshire in almost every election is not kind to front-runners.”

Riding a Wave From New Hampshire

McCain scoffed at the raft of charges, dismissing them with a wave of his hand as he spoke to reporters on his campaign bus as it trundled through the coastal South Carolina Lowcountry.

In his campaign appearances throughout the Lowcountry, where support for McCain is strongest, McCain stuck to his message of reform and leadership.

By noon, he had arrived in Charleston, S.C., and a picture-perfect photo opportunity. He spoke outside near the Charleston docks, across the harbor from the carrier Yorktown, now a maritime museum. With the mighty aircraft carrier in the background, McCain spoke to a crowd of about 800 people, three times larger than expected.

“All my life I have prepared to be the commander in chief. I am qualified and prepared to do that,” he said to sustained applause.

Aside from the new poll numbers, McCain got more good news Thursday. Riding a wave of momentum, the campaign drew more than $1 million in pledges over the Internet and 4,000 additional volunteers since his victory Tuesday, aides said.

He also learned late Thursday that New York Republican officials decided to drop their challenge to block his name from appearing on the ballot in several parts of the state. The officials argued that McCain did not satisfy the complex requirements for appearing on ballots in New York.

The apparent shift among state GOP leaders came after Bush, stung by McCain’s landslide New Hampshire win and unhappy about handing McCain an issue for his “outsider” campaign, signaled New York supporters that their fight to keep McCain off primary ballots in more than one-third of the state’s congressional districts had gone far enough.

McCain, who has compared the Bush allies to “apparatchiks,” had a typically irreverent reaction. “Republicans of New York rejoice. You are free to throw off your chains.”

Steve Forbes, meanwhile, began a four-day bus campaign across Delaware on Thursday, pushing for a repeat of his 1996 primary victory and saying New Hampshire proved “there’s nothing inevitable now” about Bush’s campaign. Forbes placed a distant third in New Hampshire. Delaware holds its primary Feb. 8.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.