Kerry was caught on tape according to this latest ABC report.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., today accused Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean of continuing to wage negative campaigns.
"It's obvious that my campaign is moving because two of the major candidates have chosen in the last two days to engage in a smear effort on my farm policy here in America," Kerry said.
Caught on Tape
But two nights ago, Cornell College psychology professor Suzette Astley, a Dean volunteer in Lisbon, Iowa, received a phone call from a Kerry's Cedar Rapids headquarters -- in which, she says, a Kerry volunteer had some less than kind things to say about Dean regarding his foreign policy experience, being from a largely white state, and so-called "environmental racism."
Since a documentary filmmaker was staying with Astley, the exchange, which has been confirmed by the Kerry campaign, was caught on videotape.
"Does your candidate know that you're saying these kinds of things, unsubstantiated claims on the phone representing Sen. Kerry?" Astley asked 19-year-old volunteer, Jacob Thomas, on the tape, a copy of which was obtained by ABCNEWS.
Soon, she asked to speak with Kerry's regional field supervisor, with whom she launched a complaint.
"I am just really offended by the call I got tonight," she said. "The person who was talking to me was taking things out of context, repeating unsubstantiated reports to me, and I find that really offensive."
`Not Authorized'
The Kerry campaign's response was swift.
"The person who made the call is a young volunteer whose remarks were not authorized or condoned by this campaign," Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill said in a statement. "It's a terrible mistake for a young person to make, and he is apologizing to the person he called. While we appreciate his support, we have asked him to leave the campaign."
But the Dean campaign said it was under the impression that the call did not represent just one over-zealous volunteer speaking extemporaneously. Rather, the campaign said in the last day it had heard of Kerry campaign calls to at least five other Iowans reading from what it said sounded like a very similar script.
Dean campaign spokesman Jay Carson slammed Kerry for claiming to run a positive campaign while letting others do his dirty work.
ABCNEWS has spoken to another Iowa Dean supporter, Susan Alexander, who said she received a phone call on the same night as Astley, which sounded like it came from the same script.
Push Poll?
A third Iowan, Dick Alexander, told ABCNEWS he received a phone call about two weeks ago from an organization claiming to be a polling firm unaffiliated with any candidate, in which pro-Kerry and anti-Dean information was conveyed.
The Alexander call, should it have happened, would meet the definition of a "push poll" -- a call purportedly from an objective polling firm that actually seeks to "push" voters away from candidates by spreading negative information about them.
The Kerry campaign insists it is not using any anti-Dean scripts.
"Not in a million years," said campaign spokesman David Wade.
At the end of any election, many campaigns are eager to both make such calls and accuse others of doing so, casting them as engaging in dirty tricks to energize their supporters and to turn swing voters off on their rivals.
During the 2000 GOP primaries, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., charged then-Gov. George W. Bush with making "push call" phone calls against him. His campaign soon retaliated with recorded anti-Bush calls to Michigan voters that did not disclose their affiliation.
Why does Kerry accuse others of smearing him while he is the nastiest campaigner in this race.
He really makes me sick. Perhaps that's exactly the nature of this biggest waffler.
