John Kerry, buffeted by a new assault yesterday on his wartime credentials, has scoured Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 for memorable lines to deploy against President Bush.
Although Kerry yesterday unveiled a multi-billion dollar plan to wean the US off foreign oil, and Bush fended off criticism about July’s job creation figures which fell far short of expectations, this is a campaign turning increasingly on which man would make a better commander-in-chief.
In that fight, Kerry went to new lengths, borrowing Moore’s best lines twice, without crediting the film-maker.
Meanwhile, Bush supporters unveiled a full-frontal attack on Kerry, in television ads which argue he did not deserve his combat medals in Vietnam.
At a meeting of journalists from ethnic minorities, Kerry drew on a scene from Fahrenheit 9/11, attacking Bush for his seven-minute delay in reacting to news on September 11 2001.
”Had my top aide whispered in my ear, ‘America is under attack,’ I would have told those kids very politely and nicely that the president of the United States had something he needed to attend to,” he said, in response to a question.
Bush, after learning that a second plane had hit the World Trade Centre, spent the next seven minutes reading My Pet Goat. Moore zoomed in on Bush’s darting eyes to suggest he was at a loss as to what he should do. White House aides say Bush continued reading because he did not want to scare the children.
Previously, Kerry has steered clear of Moore for fear of alienating swing voters. In turn, Moore has yet to endorse Kerry. The former Republican New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani criticised the tactics, saying John Kerry had to be frustrated ”if he is armchair quarterbacking, based on cues from Michael Moore”.
Although Kerry aides insisted he had not seen the film, the Democratic challenger used another of its themes — inappropriately close ties between the Saudi regime and the Bush administration — during his speech to the Democratic convention. He used that line again this week in St Louis, Missouri, saying: ”I want America’s security to depend on America’s ingenuity and creativity, not the Saudi royal family.”
The swipe was part of a series of increasingly pointed exchanges between the rivals. In a TV ad aired yesterday a small group of Vietnam veterans said Kerry did not deserve his combat medals.
The advert appeared to backfire when Kerry’s then-commander retracted the claim. Television stations have hesitated to run the ad, and the Republican senator John McCain, a friend of the Democratic challenger and a Vietnam veteran, has urged the Bush campaign to repudiate the ads. – Guardian Unlimited Â