Kerry Opens With Salvo Against Bush

Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, surrounded by symbols of his service in Vietnam, formally launched his presidential campaign Tuesday with a harsh indictment of President Bush -- and a newly combative edge toward Howard Dean, the rival who has surged to the forefront of the 2004 Democratic race.

Overall, Kerry’s speech did more to recapitulate than redefine the case he has made for his candidacy in the last year. But by drawing a succession of contrasts with Dean on taxes, gun control and foreign policy, the address outlined the arguments Kerry is hoping will capture the initiative from the former Vermont governor.

The speech’s setting sought to dramatize the military record that Kerry believes will be one of his central campaign advantages. He spoke in a park that houses the Yorktown, an aircraft carrier that was deployed in Vietnam, where Kerry won a Silver and a Bronze star as the captain of a Navy gun boat. On the lectern in front of Kerry was a placard that read: “The Courage to Do What’s Right for America.”

Kerry, 59, was forceful and energetic in delivering his remarks. But apart from the stress on his military service, the speech mostly reprised themes common to all of the Democratic contenders: more reliance on allies in fighting terrorism, a rollback of Bush’s economic policy and increased focus on environmental protection and the development of renewable energy sources.

“I am running so we can keep America’s promise -- to reward the hard work of middle-class Americans ... to restore our true strength in the world which comes from ideals, not arrogance; [and] to renew the commitment of our generation to pass this planet on to our children better than it was given to us,” Kerry declared to about 300 supporters who gathered to hear him on a steamy morning.

For Kerry, now serving his fourth term in the Senate, the speech came at a critical moment. At the start of this year, he was widely viewed as the most likely candidate to emerge as the leader in the initial stages of the Democratic race. But the candidate claiming the front-runner mantle this summer has been Dean, who has moved past Kerry in fund-raising and in the polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, the critical first two contests on the nomination calendar.

Because the speech did not offer a significantly new message for Kerry’s candidacy, it may not end concern among some of his supporters that he has failed to crystallize a single compelling rationale for his campaign.

But the speech signaled several of the contrasts Kerry will stress as he tries to slow Dean’s momentum. Although he never mentioned his fellow New Englander by name and avoided the personal rancor that characterized some of their exchanges earlier this year, Kerry underscored his differences with Dean on the issues of taxes, gun control and the war in Iraq.

Dean and another of the major Democratic candidates, Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, have called for rescinding all of the tax cuts Bush has pushed through Congress. Kerry wants to repeal only the reductions in the top two income tax rates, which would affect families earning about $200,000 a year or more.

As he has in several other recent speeches, Kerry said that revoking all of the Bush tax cuts would amount to a $2,000-a-year tax increase on middle-class families. “That’s wrong,” he said. “The last time I looked in America, the problem was not that the middle class has too much money.”

Dean has said he opposes most proposals to toughen federal gun control laws, saying it’s an issue best left to states. He also touts praise he has received from the National Rifle Assn., based on his record in Vermont.

Kerry said that Democrats must continue to confront the NRA on gun control. “Courage means standing up for gun safety, not retreating from the issue out of political fear or trying to have it both ways,” he said. “Our party will never be the choice of the NRA -- and I’m not looking to be the candidate of the NRA.”

While Dean argues that the war in Iraq was misguided -- a position that fueled much of his early support -- Kerry defended his decision to vote for the resolution that provided congressional approval for the military action Bush launched in March. But his remarks on the war continued to stress criticism of Bush as much as support.

Kerry said: “I voted to threaten the use of force to make [former Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein comply with the resolutions of the United Nations. I believe that was right. But it was wrong to rush to war without building a true international coalition, and with no plan to win the peace.”

Kerry’s rivals have been accusing him of trying to have it both ways on the war, and his speech prompted aides to some of those rivals to resume that criticism. The aides, all of whom requested anonymity, focused on Kerry’s characterization of the congressional resolution he supported as threatening the use of force rather than authorizing it.

“His military record isn’t going to help him if he is waffling on this vote in Iraq,” one aide said.

In responding to Kerry’s speech, Dean aides focused on the charge that Dean’s economic policy would significantly raise taxes on the middle class. “The Kerry campaign appears ... to be using the Bush administration’s cooked numbers on taxes,” said Tricia Enright, Dean’s communications director.

Kerry’s message was nuanced in framing his experience in Vietnam. All the atmospherics of the event emphasized his experience under fire. Eight of Kerry’s crewmates appeared with him, and he was introduced by former Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.), who lost his legs and one arm in Vietnam. “We need a man in the White House who understands what it is like to be in harm’s way,” Cleland said.

But Kerry’s speech put as much weight on his protests against the Vietnam War when he returned to America. “I saw courage both in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it,” he said. “I learned that patriotism includes protest, not just military service.”

Kerry was unstinting in his criticism of Bush’s agenda at home and abroad.

“I reject George Bush’s radical new vision of a government that comforts the comfortable at the expense of ordinary Americans, that lets corporations do as they please, that turns its back on the very alliances we helped create and the very principles that have made our nation a model to the world for over two centuries,” he said. “An economic policy of lost opportunity and lost hopes is wrong for America. An international policy where we stand almost alone is wrong for America.”

Christine Iverson, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said Kerry was trying to use “a backdrop” to hide a weak record on national security issues.