Bush Is ‘on the Run’ From Democrats, Kerry Says

Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry said Monday that the Democrats have President Bush “on the run,” insisting that the incumbent is so anxious about his prospects that he is starting his reelection campaign before his opponent has even been selected.

Hours before Bush delivered a speech in Washington on Monday widely viewed as the unofficial kickoff of his campaign, the Democratic front-runner launched a new attack at the president.

“We have George Bush on the run because he’s going to go out there and start his campaign officially tonight before we even have a nominee of the Democratic Party,” Kerry said during a morning appearance in Harlem.

“And he’s going to lay out what he calls his vision, and I think it’s extraordinary that four years into this administration we’re finally going to get what this president calls his vision.”

Later, after a town hall meeting in Queens, Kerry added: “I think he’s on the run because he doesn’t have a record to run on.”

GOP officials dismissed Kerry’s characterization of Bush’s stepped-up involvement in the presidential race.

“I think this is in keeping with the plan we announced months ago, when a nominee from the opposition became apparent and presumptive

The Republicans’ increasing focus on Kerry as the likely Democratic nominee comes as he and rival John Edwards head into the last stretch of primaries and caucuses, including a round of voting March 2, when California, New York and eight other states hold contests.

On Monday, Kerry made his first major campaign swing through New York, where he picked up the endorsement of Rep. Charles B. Rangel, who said that the Democratic Party needed a “war hero” to challenge a wartime president.

Delivering a truncated version of his standard campaign speech, Kerry criticized the Bush administration’s trade policies and the “creed of greed” that he said had infected society through the behavior of large corporations such as Enron.

He also took on Bush’s international relations.

Kerry, who had done no substantial campaigning in New York until Monday, got a lukewarm response during his day in the city.

Rows of seats went unfilled in Harlem and later at York College in Queens, where Kerry held a town hall meeting.

But nearly a dozen members of New York’s congressional delegation were on hand.

Over the weekend, Kerry challenged the president to a debate about their experiences during the Vietnam War, complaining that the Republicans were questioning his patriotism by challenging his voting record on military issues.

Bush campaign officials fired back, again rejecting Kerry’s charge and saying that he has been running away from his record.

“We have praised repeatedly Sen. Kerry’s patriotism and his service to our country during the Vietnam War, but he has refused repeatedly to explain his record on voting to cut the very weapons programs that are helping us win the war on terrorism,” Racicot said Monday.

But Kerry insisted Monday that GOP officials were trying to portray him as someone who wouldn’t defend the country.

“They haven’t come to you and said that this [defense] system is a great system and we need this system,” he said.

“They’re saying, he voted against defense.... I’m not going to let them nickel and dime us on one system or another that was an individual vote.”

During his news conference, Kerry further distanced himself from the staunch antiweapons position he staked out during his first Senate campaign in 1984, when he supported canceling programs like the B-1 bomber and the F-16 fighter jet.

He told reporters Monday that by the time he reached the Senate the following year, he had reversed many of those stances.

“As I confronted the information that came to me as a senator and I began to serve on the Foreign Relations Committee and to look at some of these issues in greater depth than you do in a first campaign for U.S. Senate, I began to come to some conclusions about those systems,” Kerry said.

In Los Angeles, Kerry picked up the endorsement of six members of the 15-member City Council on Monday, who said he represents the best hope for making cities a priority of the federal government.

Councilman Jack Weiss said Kerry would properly fund cities’ efforts to prepare against terrorism.

“The Bush administration will tell you we have a war on terrorism,” Weiss said. “You might think that is true from their rhetoric, but you can’t tell that is true from their checkbook.”

Also backing Kerry in a news conference on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall were Councilmembers Wendy Greuel, Tony Cardenas, Jan Perry and Cindy Miscikowski. Councilman Bernard Parks and County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky endorsed Kerry but did not attend the event.

Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, who also attended the news conference, had previously endorsed Kerry and serves as one of his national co-chairmen.

The endorsements come from leaders of a city where 56.7% of the registered voters are Democrats.

Also in Southern California on Monday, Vanessa Kerry spoke to about 30 students at Pepperdine University in Malibu.

The 27-year-old Harvard Medical School student described her father as a man who had passion for people, in contrast to depictions of him as aloof.

Kerry’s daughter said he was a windsurfing, guitar-playing, motorcycle-riding bundle of energy who listened to her concerns.

“He’s really a cool guy,” she said, “and he really gets it.”

Pepperdine may not be the most fertile ground for the Kerry candidacy. There are about 200 members in the campus Republican club and only about 30 active members with the campus Democrats.

Times staff writers Patrick McGreevy and James Rainey contributed to this report.

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Showdown Before ‘Super Tuesday’

As a prelude to the 10 primaries and caucuses March 2, the Democratic presidential candidates will participate in a debate Thursday sponsored by the Los Angeles Times and CNN. The forum will be broadcast live on CNN from 6 to 7:30 p.m. PST