Bush derides Kerry’s choice of running mate

US PRESIDENT George W Bush yesterday dismissed freshman Senator John Edwards’ credentials to be vice president while Democratic challenger John Kerry and his running mate rallied voters in battleground states.

“Dick Cheney can be president,” Mr Bush declared, and Mr Kerry suggested that was part of the problem. A day after he welcomed Mr Edwards to the presidential campaign, Mr Bush visited Mr Edwards’s hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina, to criticise the North Carolina senator’s role in holding up judicial appointments. The president said he was unconcerned about the potential of Mr Edwards to help carry states in the South, a GOP bastion.

“When they go to the polls to vote for president, they’ll understand the senator from Massachusetts doesn’t share their values,” Mr Bush said. “I’m going to carry the South because the people understand that we share values.”

During a trip scheduled before Mr Kerry picked Mr Edwards, Mr Bush said Mr Edwards and other Senate Democrats obstruct the work of the federal judiciary by refusing to fill judgeships.

A reporter noted that Mr Edwards was being described as “charming, engaging, a nimble campaigner, a populist and even sexy” and asked, “How does he stack up against Dick Cheney?” Mr Bush didn’t hesitate: “Dick Cheney can be president. Next?”

Mr Kerry struck back hours later at a rally in Dayton, Ohio. “He doesn’t have a record to run on, he’s just got a record to run away from, and he’s attacking everyone,” Mr Kerry said of Mr Bush. He said Mr Edwards has “more experience than George Bush and better judgment than when he became president”.

Mr Bush “was right that Dick Cheney was ready to take over on day one, and he did and has been ever since, folks, and that’s what we have got to change,” Mr Kerry said.

Earlier, Mr Kerry’s campaign said Mr Bush was “hitting the panic button”.

“It’s just disappointing that the president of the United States would stoop to this kind of political bickering,” the campaign Mr Kerry said.

The two were stumping together for the first time as running mates in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, showcasing their newfound camaraderie and putting aside past differences.

Polling suggests people are viewing Mr Kerry’s first big decision favourably. Two-thirds, 64%, in a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll taken Tuesday night thought the choice of Mr Edwards was excellent or good. Nine in 10 Democrats, and seven in 10 of all voters, said they were satisfied or enthusiastic about the Edwards pick, according to a CBS News poll.