Democratic White House front-runner John Kerry on Tuesday accused President George W. Bush of showing up "when the bagpipes are wailing" and then forgetting America's real heroes - fire-fighters, police and other emergency personnel.
With voters going to the polls in Wisconsin's pivotal primary, the senator from Massachusetts ignored his Democratic rivals and looked ahead to a potential match-up with Bush in November, slamming the president's "creed of greed" and "extreme radical administration."
Kerry, and US Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri, former competitors for their party's presidential nomination, headlined a rally with union members who have flocked to Kerry's campaign since his winning streak began in Iowa last month.
With 14 victories in the first 16 contests, Kerry is in firm command of the Democratic race to challenge Bush. Opinion polls have also showed him the prohibitive favourite in Wisconsin where he is leading nearest rival Howard Dean by double digit margins.
Deriding Bush as "the worst president for jobs in this country since Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression," Kerry said the consequence was written in more than just the 75,000-plus jobs lost in Wisconsin over the past three years.
"It is written in the countless number of victims seeing their pensions blown away because of the Enrons and WorldComs and an entire creed of greed that has been licensed by the Bush administration," he said.
With several hundred union members chanting "Send Bush to Mars," Kerry said the president had failed to live up to his commitment to fire-fighters, police officers, emergency medical personnel and other union members who sacrificed in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Comments
Comments are closed.