Kerry mocks Bush

2004-10-09 22:01

Elryia, Ohio - Democratic hopeful John Kerry depicted President George W Bush as angry, wrongheaded and unfit to lead on Saturday, hours after the two rivals slugged out their second televised debate.

Kerry flew into Ohio, a crucial battleground state where he is running neck-and-neck with Bush, and flung red meat rhetoric at a large crowd of supporters at a rally in the Cleveland suburbs.

The veteran Massachusetts senator lambasted Bush on Iraq, his failure to find terror kingpin Osama bin Laden and his tax policies, three-and-a-half weeks before the November 2 election.

"Do we want leadership as it's called that can't face reality and admit mistakes or do we want leadership that sees the truth and tells the truth to the American people?" Kerry asked, shouting in a hoarse voice in a performance a world removed from the prosecutorial style he adopted in the debate.

"For me, the most stunning moment of the whole evening was when George Bush was asked to name three mistakes that he has made ... and the President couldn't even name one mistake."

Kerry looked back on Friday's night's debate in St Louis, Missouri, recalling that at one stage a riled-up Bush cut off moderator Charles Gibson in midsentence to answer one of his rival's statements.

"I was a little worried at one point, I thought the President was going to attack Charlie Gibson."

Bush conducted his own post-debate analysis on Saturday, telling supporters back in St Louis that Kerry's stance on Iraq was not credible.

Ohio seen as barometer

"With a straight face he said he only had one position on Iraq. He must think we've been on another planet," Bush said.

Kerry aides were well satisfied with their man's showing, despite an improved performance by Bush, who saw his opinion poll ratings slump after their first debate, the previous week.

"People are taking a look at Kerry now and saying I can really imagine him as president," aide Mike McCurry told reporters on the candidate's campaign plane.

"The most important thing for us is people see - you know, 'I'm beginning to see this guy in the Oval Office.'"

Ohio is often seen as a barometer for political opinion in America, and it is the most Republican of the great industrial states also including Pennsylvania, Michigan and Illinois.

No Republican candidate ever lost the state, which is known for social and political conservatism, and made it to the Oval Office.

Recent polls show Kerry and Bush locked in a tight race - and Democrats are targeting the state's 20 electoral votes betting that brutal job losses could tempt voters Kerry's way.

Kerry was later to fly onto Florida, another battleground state, before heading west New Mexico on Sunday to prepare for the final head-to-head debate with Bush in Arizona on Wednesday.

- AFP