GOP Fires Rhetorical Barrage at Kerry

Turning from compassion to aggression, Republicans launched a withering assault Wednesday on John F. Kerry, using the third night of their national convention to attack his character, credibility and nearly 20 years in Congress.

Vice President Dick Cheney and Democratic Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia helped lead the barrage, with Cheney using Kerry’s own words to portray him as too meek to lead the country at a time of peril.

“He talks about leading a ‘more sensitive war on terror’ as though Al Qaeda will be impressed with our softer side,” Cheney said during a speech accepting his nomination for a second term.

“Faced with an enemy who seeks the deadliest of weapons to use against us, we cannot wait for the next attack,” Cheney said. “We must do everything we can to prevent it, and that includes the use of military force.”

President Bush, who also was renominated, will cap the four-day gathering with his acceptance speech tonight. The address may go a long way toward setting the tone and agenda for the final eight weeks of the neck-and-neck campaign.

Miller painted the Democratic presidential nominee as a waffler who would put the nation’s security at risk.

“For more than 20 years, on every one of the great issues of freedom and security, John Kerry has been more wrong, more weak and more wobbly than any other national figure,” said Miller, reprising the prime-time speaking role he played 12 years ago inside Madison Square Garden.

At that time, Miller was a key supporter of Democratic hopeful Bill Clinton, assailing Bush’s father, who was seeking reelection.

This time, the drawling ex-Marine turned his sulfurous wit and blistering critique against his own “warped” party, saying the country “is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrats’ manic obsession to bring down our commander in chief.”

In a veiled swipe at Kerry’s decorated Vietnam service, which has been central to his candidacy, Miller said the Massachusetts senator “wants to re-fight yesterday’s war.”

“George Bush believes we have to fight today’s war and be ready for tomorrow’s challenges,” Miller said.

The Republicans gathered in New York were fighting on two fronts Wednesday: defending the invasion of Iraq and reaching back more than 30 years to the conflict in Southeast Asia to question Kerry’s judgment .

Even before the convention opened for business, the president’s chief political advisor, Karl Rove, kicked up dust in an interview with Associated Press.

Echoing the message of an independent conservative group that has aired television ads challenging Kerry’s antiwar activity during Vietnam, Rove said Kerry tarnished “the records and service” of his fellow veterans by giving 1971 congressional testimony alleging U.S. atrocities.

“I think that was painting with far too broad a brush,” Rove said.

Angry Democrats responded by noting that both Rove and Cheney had received deferments during the war and never served in the military.

“Who in the hell is Karl Rove, talking about John Kerry’s war record?” asked retired Air Force Gen. Merrill McPeak, who backed Bush in 2000 but now supports the Democratic ticket.

Kerry, who resumed campaigning after a few days of rest, took aim at Bush in a speech to the American Legion convention in Nashville. He assailed the president’s handling of postwar Iraq, saying Bush’s actions had turned the country into a haven for terrorists.

“Violence has spread in Iraq, Iran has expanded its influence and extremism has gained momentum,” Kerry said to a lukewarm response.

Bush campaigned in Ohio, a top target of both campaigns, before flying to New York, where he accepted the endorsement of the city’s firefighters union.

Elsewhere in New York, a welter of anti-Bush demonstrations continued around Manhattan, with protesters forming a symbolic 3-mile-long “unemployment line” to protest the president’s economic policies.

The convention arrest tally climbed to at least 1,789, the most ever at a national political convention.

The production Wednesday from Madison Square Garden was distinctly different from the one that aired on prime time 24 hours earlier.

On Tuesday, the message was caring and compassion, with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reaching out to immigrants and First Lady Laura Bush offering a soft-focus look inside the White House.

There were a few such moments Wednesday, including a sentimental tribute to the late President Reagan, introduced by his son Michael.

For the most part, however, Wednesday marked a return to the scalding attacks and grim references to Sept. 11 that opened the convention and serve the main strategy of the Bush campaign: undermining Kerry’s credibility and reminding the nation of the risks of unseating a wartime president.

Cheney’s acceptance speech was a rare national TV appearance for a top presidential counselor who prefers to wield his tremendous power behind the scenes. His words were matter-of-fact -- if harsh -- and Cheney’s delivery was just as unadorned as he worked through his roughly half-hour address like a student delivering a term paper.

When the crowd broke into chants of “Four more years,” “USA!” and “Flip-flop! Flip-flop!” -- a shot at Kerry -- Cheney responded with a wry smile.

With a projection of the Stars and Stripes as his backdrop, the vice president extolled the accomplishments of Bush’s 3 1/2 years in office, saying that schools have improved, the economy is perking up and home ownership stands at a record high. “The Bush tax cuts are working,” Cheney declared.

But those few lines -- contained in three paragraphs -- were almost an afterthought to Cheney’s speech, which focused nearly entirely on terrorism and the administration’s response to Sept. 11.

“Time and again Sen. Kerry has made the wrong call on national security,” Cheney said, citing his opposition to weapons programs under Reagan and his vote to oppose the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Cheney cited an assortment of Kerry’s other votes -- on the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Patriot Act and the president’s No Child Left Behind education legislation -- accusing him of taking both sides at various times.

Kerry has said he supported the broad principles of each, but differs with the way those laws have been implemented by Bush. That distinction was ignored, however, as Cheney claimed the Democrat had “a habit of indecision.”

“Sen. Kerry says he sees two Americas,” Cheney taunted, referring to a campaign line the Democrat uses to describe the perceived inequality between America’s rich and poor, blacks and whites. “It makes the whole thing mutual -- America sees two John Kerrys.”

The lacerating speech by Miller was much like the one he gave in July 1992 when he portrayed Bush’s father, President George H.W. Bush, as a clueless elitist out of touch with the economic suffering caused by his policies. (Miller has since apologized.)

Grim-faced on the stage Wednesday night, Miller described his estrangement from the Democratic Party -- his lifelong home after being raised a Democrat by his strong-willed mother -- by mentioning the four great-grandchildren born since his last convention appearance.

“Like you, I ask which leader is it today that has the vision, the willpower and, yes, the backbone to best protect my family,” Miller said. “The clear answer to that question has placed me in this hall with you tonight. For my family is more important than my party.”

The crowd roared when he proclaimed that he respected Bush because “he is unashamed of his belief that God is not indifferent to America.”

The veteran Georgia lawmaker, who is retiring at the end of his term in January, has grown increasingly antagonistic toward his fellow Democrats in recent years.

But Miller’s most audacious break with his party came this year, when he endorsed Bush and began a series of harsh attacks on Kerry.

Democrats responded to his convention appearance with a mixture of anger and contempt. Using the mocking nickname “Zig-Zag Zell,” which has dogged Miller throughout his political career, they quoted his laudatory description of Kerry -- “one of this nation’s authentic heroes” -- in March 2001.

“There was a lot of hate coming from that podium tonight,” said Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, Kerry’s running mate. “What John Kerry and I offer to the American people is hope.”

But inside the Garden, the response to Miller was exultant, with delegates chanting, “Give ‘em hell, Zell!” -- the same line that was printed on signs at the Democratic gathering 12 years ago.

After ticking off various weapons systems that Kerry opposed -- as part of an effort to cut the federal deficit, the Democratic candidate has explained -- Miller scoffed, “This is the man who wants to be the commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces? U.S. forces armed with what?” Miller scoffed. “Spitballs?”

The Kerry campaign responded by accusing Miller of mischaracterizing the senator’s record, pointing out that Cheney had also voted to cut funding for some of the same weapons programs while serving in Congress. Others were targeted for cutbacks by Cheney when he was Defense secretary in the first Bush administration.

“He is awesome,” said Trixie Averill, a delegate from Virginia. “I would welcome him into our party with open arms. I only wish he wasn’t retiring. He has the good of the country at heart.”

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Times staff writers Nick Anderson and Janet Hook contributed to this report.

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What’s in a name?

Most people think GOP stands for “Grand Old Party,” but the original phrase, coined in 1875 and noted in the Congressional Record, was “Gallant Old Party.” “Grand Old Party” was first used in 1876 by the Cincinnati Commercial newspaper. The elephant symbol was created by cartoonist Thomas Nast and first appeared

in Harper’s Weekly in 1874. SOURCE: Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel

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Paperback writer

The official Republican National Committee biography of Lynne Cheney lists several of the books she has written. The bibliography includes political tomes and children’s history books, such as “America: A Patriotic Primer.” Missing from the list: “Sisters,” her 1981 lesbian romance novel set in the 19th century Wild West. According to Bookfinder.com, it’s the No. 1 out-of-print book in the nation. Collectors can find it on the rare-book site Alibris.com -- for about $1,500.

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Oh, that poll!

In his speech Tuesday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said, “The president did not go into Iraq because the polls told him it was popular. As a matter of fact, the polls said just the opposite.” The reality check from Gallup: Invading Iraq was popular, with 64% of Americans supporting it in March 2003. Gubernatorial spokesman Rob Stutzman said the

governor was referring to a poll in September 2002.