Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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I I I I I I I 111 Ill IB—I t - • PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., campaigns in Tampa, Florida on the eve of the Florida Democratic primary. Bush, Kerry seek to define issues BY RON FOURNIER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - Fighting earli er and uglier than usual, President Bush and Democrat John Kerry are in a race to shape the campaign for the White House on their terms — tax cuts and ter rorism for Bush, joblessness and change for Kerry. Both camps can taste victory but fear defeat at the hands of an evenly divided electorate. “Each side wants to try and lay down some markers about who they are and what their campaign will be about,” said Democratic strategist Jenny Backus. Bush partisans fret over the president’s sagging poll numbers and wonder whether he let Democratic criticisms go unan swered too long. Kerry backers tremble over the Republican’s fi nancial advantages and wait anx iously for Kerry to fashion a gen eral election message. Less than two weeks ago, Bush called Kerry to congratulate his ■V rival for cementing the Democratic nomination, possibly their last exchange of kind words until Nov. 2, when one candidate accepts and the other concedes. Just last week, Bush accused Kerry of proposing “deeply irre sponsible” cuts in intelligence spending. The Democrat said •Bush broke his promises to senior citizens. Bush labeled Kerry an economic isolationist. Kerry called his Republican critics “the most crooked ... lying group I’ve ever seen.” While sticks and stones may break some bones, negative ad vertising will hurt you. Thus, Bush spent at least $6 million to air television ads in 18 states this week, portraying Kerry as a tax hiking, soft-on-terrorism rival. Kerry responded with an ad ac cusing Bush of distorting the facts. Kerry spent one-third as much as Bush on his ads. Two interest groups favoring Kerry — but act ing independently — also are spending millions on ads. Taken together, Bush’s rivals might have managed to level the advertising playing field, accord ing to Kerry and Bush officials. The question is how long they can keep pace with Bush, who has raised more than $160 million. Some Democrats fear Bush’s ads will shift voters’ interest from the weak economy and troubles in Iraq — topics that favor Kerry — to a debate over Kerry’s proposed tax increases and reminders of the terrorist attacks, when the presi dent’ s popularity soared. Several Democrats, including some of Kerry’s top advisers, said Kerry has failed thus far to find his general election voice. His pri mary season message was simple: Kerry, a decorated Vietnam vet eran, said he was the best quali fied to beat Bush. But now he must give voters a reason to switch presidents during war. Doug Sosnik, a top adviser in the Clinton White House, said Bush wins if the war on terrorism dominates the election. Kerry wins if it’s the economy. “What the White House is do ing is smart, but how they’re do ing it is dumb,” Sosnik said. “It’s crazy for him to be attacking Kerry by name. It looks so un presidential.” Bush’s advisers conducted two separate focus groups in St. Louis last week and found swing voters dismissing criticism of his first ads, which used images of September 11. They also pointed to public polls that show voters are more interested in the cam paign now than they have been in the month before the last two pres idential elections. Polls show Bush’s approval rat ing has slipped to the lowest level of his presidency. Polls consistently show that the economy and jobs are the most important issues to voters, and Kerry is considered best qual ified to fix things. Terrorism and national security are by far Bush’s strong suit, but they rank behind the economy among vot er concerns — sometimes by dou ble digits. Suspected Taliban attack leaves 5 dead in Afghanistan town BY STEPHEN GRAHAM THE ASSOCIATED CHESS KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - A suspected Taliban attack on an Afghan government office and a rocket attack on a provincial town killed five people, officials said Sunday, hours after the U.S. military announced a new drive to crush insurgents and track down Osama bin Laden. Late Saturday, about 60 Taliban fighters armed with rockets and heavy machine guns raided a district chiefs office in southern Kandahar province, near the border with Pakistan. That sparked a firefight that killed three of the Taliban and one Afghan soldier, Kandahar deputy police chief Gen. Salim Khan said. Separately, two rockets hit the capital of eastern Laghman province late Saturday, killing one civilian in his home, provin cial Gov. Mohammed Ibrahim Babkerkhel said. A purported Taliban spokesman claimed re sponsibility. At least 160 people have been killed in violence so far this year, highlighting the insecurity still plaguing the country more than two years after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban for harboring bin Laden. The U.S. military on Saturday announced a new drive to track al-Qaida and Taliban holdouts in southern and eastern Afghanistan, insisting their net will eventually close on the al Qaida leader — although not necessarily during the new op eration, dubbed “Mountain Storm.” The new U.S. offensive is also supposed to safeguard landmark Afghan elections slated for June, when U.S.-bgcked President Hamid Karzai is expected to win a new term. In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Sunday sought to diminish expectations over Mountain Storm by saying nothing un usual was happening. Commanders of the 13,500 strong U.S.-led force have pre viously vowed to finish off the militants and snare bin Laden as well as Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar this year. 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