Kerry Calls Bush 'The Greatest Divider'
Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites) criticized Republicans on Wednesday for denying him a chance to cast a Senate vote, blaming a partisan culture created by President Bush (news - web sites) and calling his rival "the greatest divider as a president in the modern history of this country.
Kerry told donors at a $2 million breakfast fund-raiser and later in a speech to union workers that he canceled all his campaign events Tuesday to return to Washington to vote for more spending on veterans' health care.
"But oh, no," Kerry said at the fund-raiser. "Oh, no. Not in this Senate, not with these people. Once again, it's my way or the highway, shut the door, lock the people out, don't let them take part in the democracy, don't respect the institution. Don't show the common courtesies that actually bring people together to find the common ground. So they found a way all day to twiddle their thumbs, do very little, attend a reception at the White House, but not let John Kerry vote.
"That's the way the play," Kerry continued. "That's what's at stake in this race. George Bush talked about being a uniter, not a divider. But he's been the greatest divider as a president in the modern history of this country. And we need to change."
Speaking earlier to the fund-raiser that brought in $1 million for Kerry's campaign and $1 million for the Democratic National Committee (news - web sites), the Democrat said he learned when he returned from fighting in Vietnam what happens when a war loses the people's support.
"I came back to a nation that was indifferent, if not divided over that, certainly indifferent about the role of the soldiers who were quickly cast aside as America confused the war with the warriors, something that I would never, ever commit again," Kerry said to applause from his supporters. "Which is why I felt so strongly about that issue of health care yesterday."
Kerry canceled a day of campaigning in the swing state of New Mexico to wait for the Senate vote that never happened. But he could use his move as cover for missing future votes -- then he can claim that even when he moved heaven and earth to get to the Senate, the Republicans wouldn't let him participate.
"These people are so petty, so sad, so political, that all they could do is spend the whole day finding a way not to let John Kerry vote," Kerry said in a speech to the Service Employees International Union.