by Catherine Hours
NEW YORK, Aug 24 (AFP) - Democratic presidential hopeful Senator John Kerry went on the offensive here Tuesday charging the campaign of President George W. Bush used "fear and smear" tactics in its bid to retain the White House.
"The Bush campaign and its allies have turned to the tactics of fear and smear because they can`t talk about jobs, health care, energy independence and rebuilding our alliances -- the real issues that matter to the American people," Kerry said.
The Kerry campaign has accused the Bush reelection bandwagon of broadcasting in hotly contested states a series of hard-hitting television advertisements, which attack Kerry`s military record in Vietnam.
However, the Bush campaign Tuesday said Kerry had participated in events organized by a liberal group, MoveOn.org, which has poured cash into what it describes as vitriolic anti-Bush spots.
The president plans to visit eight of the most hotly contested states before his September 2 appearance at the Republican convention in New York, campaign officials said.
Bush has been on vacation since Thursday at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. In New York, he is to be formally tapped as the Republican candidate to face Kerry. The two are running neck-and-neck in voter preference polls.
Days ahead of the convention, Kerry expressed confidence that the public would not be swayed by what the Republicans say at the rally.
"I am here today to call for a truthful and robust debate about our values as Americans and the fundamental choices we will make at a critical time in our history," Kerry declared at a New York engineering college, The Cooper Union.
"That is what this election should be about. But from the other side, we have seen a calculated effort to evade that debate.
"The world will listen to what the Republicans say when they come here," Kerry said. "But words, slogans and personal attacks cannot disguise what they have done -- and left undone. They are going to say that we`ve `turned the corner,` that the job is getting done. They are even going to claim, as they already have, that this is the best economy of our lifetimes."
The speech comes on the heels of an intense sparring match in which the two sides have accused each other of lying in a war of words over Kerry`s record in the Vietnam War.
The ads run by "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" attack Kerry`s military service. A book by the former soldiers leapt onto the bestseller lists, according to sales recorded by Amazon.com.
Bush called Monday for a stop to campaign ads by independent groups, including those targeting Kerry`s war record, and praised his Democratic rival`s service as a swift boat captain in Vietnam.
However, the Bush campaign says its candidate has also been shown no mercy in liberal groups` ads, which it said Kerry has failed to condemn.
"The moment of truth for John Kerry has come and gone hundreds of times, and he has passed up every opportunity to condemn efforts by his campaign and supporters to divide America," Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot said in a statement.
"There`s no place in American politics for 63 million (dollars) in third-party activity that smears the president of the United States of America by accusing him of lying, condoning torture and poisoning pregnant women," Racicot said.
Ads run by the swift boat veterans group have claimed Kerry lied about some of the wounds and medals he received in Vietnam.