|
Bush, Kerry duel over jobs, health care
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-14 09:26
John Kerry, meeting President Bush in their third and final debate, said
Wednesday night that Bush rushed to war and pushed decades-long allies away, and
as a result "America is now bearing this extraordinary burden" of the war in
Iraq.
Bush said he had a comprehensive strategy to chase down al-Qaida.
With less than three weeks of campaigning left before the election, the
90-minute debate at Arizona State University gave the candidates a final
nationwide chance to reach out to undecided voters in the battleground states
and to encourage their strongest supporters to turn out in large numbers.
President
Bush answers a question during the presidential debate
in Tempe, Ariz., Wednesday, Oct. 13,
2004.[AP] | Republican Bush enters the
debate touting his record of tax cuts and a new prescription drug benefit. His
line of attack is no secret: He has repeatedly labeled Massachusetts Sen. Kerry
a liberal who would turn the nation's health care over to government
bureaucrats, raise taxes and weaken national defenses against terrorists.
Democrat Kerry comes to the faceoff promoting a detailed health care plan and
a promise to ease the financial pinch on middle-class families. He's put a
spotlight on job losses and lobbed accusations that the Republican
administration has spent four years doling out favors to powerful friends while
raising the tax burden on the middle class.
Democratic nominee
John Kerry (L) shakes hands with U.S. President George W. Bush at the
start of their third and final debate, at Arizona State University in
Tempe, Arizona October 13, 2004. Bush and Kerry prepared Wednesday for a
final debate that could give the winner a critical boost in the last three
weeks of a tight White House race. [Reuters] | The
90-minute debate comes less than three weeks before voters are to pick the next
president. With poll after poll showing the country divided between the two
candidates, there is no room for error.
The Bush camp hopes the last debate will erase any lingering negative
impressions left by the president's scowling demeanor in the first. He tempered
that image in the second, still testy, confrontation.
Kerry has to make sure voters would feel safe turning the White House over to
him.
Democratic nominee John Kerry (L) makes a
point while U.S. President George W. Bush (R) and moderator Bob Schieffer
look on, during the third and final presidential debate at Arizona State
University in Tempe, Arizona, October 13, 2004.
[Reuters] | The debate gives the candidates a final, nationwide chance to reach out to
undecided voters in the battleground states and to encourage their strongest
supporters to turn out in large numbers.
The first presidential debate this year drew 62.5 million viewers, the second
46.7 million. The vice presidential debate had 43.6 million.
In the hours before the debate:
_ Bush won an expected endorsement from the National Rifle Association, which
plans to spend about $20 million on behalf of the president's re-election,
mostly in battleground states. The NRA contends that Kerry wants to ban gun
ownership.
_ Kerry's campaign rolled out new television ads accusing Bush of distorting
the Democrat's health-care plan and criticizing the president for rising costs.
Kerry, referring to comments made Monday by Treasury Secretary John Snow, said
Snow delivered an "outrageous slap in the face to America's middle class" when
he said it was a myth that there had been economic failures on Bush's watch.
In a statement released Wednesday evening, Snow said his comments were being
misconstrued by critics of the Bush administration. "In my comments, I was
responding to criticisms of the president's economic policies and unfounded
comparisons that are being made. Those charges are simply not credible," Snow
said. "The president's leadership and policies turned this economy around and
put it on a strong upward path. This was the key point I was making."
The candidates leave after the last debate for a furious stretch of
campaigning. Bush heads to Nevada, Iowa and Florida, as Kerry travels to Nevada,
Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio.
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
Today's
Top News |
|
|
|
Top World
News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
