Cheney Derides Kerry’s Values

WHEELING, W. Va. -- Cruising across the Rust Belt on a holiday weekend bus tour, Vice President Dick Cheney on Saturday ripped into the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, accusing Sen. John F. Kerry of suffering from amnesia in claiming last week that he holds “conservative values.”

Cheney drew hoots and boos from a Republican crowd in a sweltering high school gym when he chided Kerry for voting three times against a ban on flag-burning and voting against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (Laci and Conner’s Law) and antiabortion measures. He added that Kerry had received failing grades from gun-rights groups.

“On these and a whole host of values, John Kerry’s votes and statements over the decades he’s been in office put him on the left, out of the mainstream and out of touch with the conservative values of the heartland,” Cheney said.

The vice president’s attack came as the Massachusetts senator had begun to talk about values -- an effort Republicans say is a calculated attempt to shift the focus away from a liberal voting record that could hurt him in culturally conservative states such as West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

“Sometimes I think John Kerry develops amnesia when he gets out on the campaign trail,” Cheney said. “Did he forget his voting record -- the voting record that makes him the most liberal member of the United States Senate?”

Campaigning in Minnesota on Friday, Kerry told local television interviewers that he could relate to voters who cared about values, noting that he was a hunter and a veteran.

“I actually represent the conservative values that they feel,” Kerry said.

Responding to Cheney’s attacks, a Kerry spokesman noted that it was Kerry, not Cheney, who fought in Vietnam.

“Considering that Dick Cheney got five deferments from the military to avoid seeing combat, he’s the last person who should be attacking Vietnam vet John Kerry’s commitment to the flag,” said Kerry spokesman Phil Singer.

Cheney’s two-day bus tour began with a rally in Parma, a suburb of Cleveland, before winding through West Virginia -- making brief stops in Ohio at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton and the Columbiana County GOP headquarters in Lisbon.

The tour’s first day presented a side of Cheney rarely seen in public -- a press-the-flesh politician.

In Parma, as John Mellencamp’s “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.” blared from loudspeakers in a church hall, Cheney doffed his blue blazer. The crowd cheered.

“It’s a great day for a bus ride,” declared Cheney, who put aside his own presidential ambitions in 1996 largely because he detested the daily grind of greeting supporters, posing for photographs and eating one chicken dinner after another.

So far this year, Cheney has stuck to serious policy speeches on the economy and national security and has been the guest of honor at high-dollar GOP fundraising events.

He surfaces in the headlines primarily when Democrats attack him for his ties to Halliburton Co., the oil-services giant he once headed, and for his support for the Iraq war. Most recently, he came under fire for his use of a vulgarity against Democrat Patrick J. Leahy on the Senate floor.

Now, Cheney and his boss, President Bush, are engaged in a close race with the Democrats, and Cheney’s role is changing. And although he did not stray far Saturday from his monotone delivery, he did evince signs of enjoyment.

Cheney and his wife, Lynne, appeared on stage with their 10-year-old granddaughter, Kate, introducing her to cheers from supporters. It was a rare public appearance for a member of the extended Cheney family, and aides were pleased to share that Kate called the veep Grandpa.

In Lisbon, Cheney emerged from the bus -- the same blue, red and white souped-up luxury coach used recently by the president on a similar bus tour -- and stepped onto the back seat of a 1937 convertible Lincoln Willoughby to address voters gathered along West Lincoln Avenue. Then he strode along each side of the street to shake hands.

At times, he seemed to be out of his element. When the crowd in Parma began chanting “USA” as he discussed the war on terrorism, Cheney looked up and, in the same tone he used to castigate Al Qaeda, said: “This is a great crowd.”

Cheney’s foray into “retail politics” comes just days before Kerry is expected to announce his running mate. Democrats have attacked Cheney in recent weeks, hoping to set up a contrast that they think works in their favor. Most of the speculation has focused on North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.

“Regardless of who the Democrats put up as their vice presidential candidate, they’ll never be able to hold a candle to Dick Cheney,” said Ohio Sen. George Voinovich during the bus tour’s kickoff rally in Parma.