FOX CHAPEL, Pa. (Reuters) - Democratic presidential contender John Kerry made his first public appearance with his newly minted running mate John Edwards on Wednesday and declared the one-term U.S. senator "ready to lead America."
In a carefully choreographed event with their wives and children almost 24 hours after Kerry announced Edwards' selection, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee sought to rebut Republican criticism of his No. 2's relative political inexperience, especially on national security.
"This man is ready for this job. He's ready to help lead America," Kerry said as the families posed against the backdrop of Pennsylvania's western Allegheny mountains on Teresa Heinz Kerry's $3.7 million farm outside Pittsburgh.
"John Edwards and his family represent a life of fighting to provide hope and opportunity for people, opening doors making things better for people who have been hurt, helping to fight to make America fair." Kerry said. "He's ready to do his job."
Democrats hope Edwards can broaden Kerry's appeal to undecided and swing voters who might decide what is expected to be an extremely close race with Republican President Bush for the November election.
Kerry aides also played up the experience brought to the position by Edwards, a charismatic former trial lawyer who has represented North Carolina since 1998 and who is expected to inject new excitement into what has often been a dull campaign.
"He served on the Intelligence Committee in the United States Senate. He's on the commission investigating 9/11 (the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States). He's been a leader on bioterrorism and on security," said Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill.
"He brings a great deal to the table and actually more than the current president did when he was elected in 2000," Cahill added in an interview with ABC's Good Morning America. Bush had served as governor of Texas.
"For so many Americans, this campaign is about the future and it's about restoring hope, Edwards said. "People are desperate to believe again that tomorrow will be better than today. That's what John Kerry represents for the American people. He represents hope."
Kerry and Edwards were setting out on their first joint campaign swing, with rallies in the battleground states of Ohio and Florida.
"Our vision is a vision that puts this country back to work and restores confidence. Our vision is one that makes America stronger and fights a more effective war on terror. Our vision will make America safer in every respect," Kerry said.
As the two men spoke he spoke, Edwards' young children, Emma Claire, 6, and Jack, 4, fidgeted at their feet. Kerry threw his arm around the shoulders of his one-time rival for the Democratic presidential nomination and credited him with fighting "to make America fair" and declared him "ready to do this job."
During the primary season, the Massachusetts senator had criticized Edwards' inexperience and questioned what gave a man who had spent such a short time in politics the right to run for president.
The two families spent Tuesday night at the 90-acre (36-hectare) farm, where Kerry said they laughed, shared experiences and talked about politics over a dinner of salad, corn pudding and veal tenderloin.
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By Caren Bohan
YORK (Reuters) - President Bush on Friday called Democrat John Edwards a pessimist on the economy and suggested his experience as a trial lawyer would tilt him toward policies that would hurt small businesses.
At a raucous rally in York, Pennsylvania, the president launched his most aggressive broadside against Edwards since John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, named the North Carolina senator as his running mate on Tuesday.
Bush told the crowd of more than 10,000 that the U.S. economy was "moving into high gear" but he said Kerry and Edwards were ignoring the good news while insisting that "the sky is falling."
He alluded to Edwards' sunny demeanor as he criticized his and Kerry's emphasis on difficulties facing workers such as rising health-care costs and the outsourcing of jobs overseas.
"Whether the message is delivered with a frown or a smile, it's the same old pessimism," Bush said.
While the Bush administration has been cheered by a string of hefty job-growth figures this spring, job creation slowed in June, coming in at 112,000 -- about half the 235,000 pace of increase in May.
Bush sought to regain the campaign spotlight at the end of a week in which the media have focused on Edwards, seen as bringing energy and charisma to the Democratic ticket, and on a Senate Intelligence Committee report that accused spy agencies of hyping the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
Reaching out to his conservative base in Pennsylvania, Bush described Kerry as a "liberal out of step with the mainstream values so important to our country and our families."
He said Edwards had the fourth most liberal voting record in the Senate, only slight behind Kerry's record as the most liberal.
He took issue with Edwards' background as a trial lawyer, blaming "frivolous lawsuits" for driving up medical insurance costs and harming small businesses.
"You can't be pro-small business and pro-trial lawyers at the same time. You have to choose. My opponent had made his choice, and put him on the ticket," Bush said.
But Kerry took a swipe at Bush, raising the issue of values to criticize Bush's past friendship with Kenneth Lay, the former chairman of Enron who was indicted this week on charges related to the energy company's descent into bankruptcy.
"Values are not just words," Kerry told a fundraiser in New York. "Values are putting the full force of the Justice Department on day one in an effort not to take three years and a few months before the election before you bring Ken Lay to justice."
At an appearance earlier in the day, Bush visited the Lapp Electrical Services company in Lancaster where he touted his tax cuts as having helped small businesses.
He also held forth at an "Ask the President" forum in Kutztown.
Bush lost Pennsylvania to Democrat Al Gore in 2000 by 4 percentage points but this year he is lavishing attention on the key battleground state, which is rich in electoral votes.
With him on the tour was his 22-year-old daughter Jenna, marking her first foray into campaigning.
"She's already given me good advice," Bush quipped of his daughter. "She said, 'Dad, change your shirt."
YORK (Reuters) - President Bush on Friday called Democrat John Edwards a pessimist on the economy and suggested his experience as a trial lawyer would tilt him toward policies that would hurt small businesses.
At a raucous rally in York, Pennsylvania, the president launched his most aggressive broadside against Edwards since John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, named the North Carolina senator as his running mate on Tuesday.
Bush told the crowd of more than 10,000 that the U.S. economy was "moving into high gear" but he said Kerry and Edwards were ignoring the good news while insisting that "the sky is falling."
He alluded to Edwards' sunny demeanor as he criticized his and Kerry's emphasis on difficulties facing workers such as rising health-care costs and the outsourcing of jobs overseas.
"Whether the message is delivered with a frown or a smile, it's the same old pessimism," Bush said.
While the Bush administration has been cheered by a string of hefty job-growth figures this spring, job creation slowed in June, coming in at 112,000 -- about half the 235,000 pace of increase in May.
Bush sought to regain the campaign spotlight at the end of a week in which the media have focused on Edwards, seen as bringing energy and charisma to the Democratic ticket, and on a Senate Intelligence Committee report that accused spy agencies of hyping the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
Reaching out to his conservative base in Pennsylvania, Bush described Kerry as a "liberal out of step with the mainstream values so important to our country and our families."
He said Edwards had the fourth most liberal voting record in the Senate, only slight behind Kerry's record as the most liberal.
He took issue with Edwards' background as a trial lawyer, blaming "frivolous lawsuits" for driving up medical insurance costs and harming small businesses.
"You can't be pro-small business and pro-trial lawyers at the same time. You have to choose. My opponent had made his choice, and put him on the ticket," Bush said.
But Kerry took a swipe at Bush, raising the issue of values to criticize Bush's past friendship with Kenneth Lay, the former chairman of Enron who was indicted this week on charges related to the energy company's descent into bankruptcy.
"Values are not just words," Kerry told a fundraiser in New York. "Values are putting the full force of the Justice Department on day one in an effort not to take three years and a few months before the election before you bring Ken Lay to justice."
At an appearance earlier in the day, Bush visited the Lapp Electrical Services company in Lancaster where he touted his tax cuts as having helped small businesses.
He also held forth at an "Ask the President" forum in Kutztown.
Bush lost Pennsylvania to Democrat Al Gore in 2000 by 4 percentage points but this year he is lavishing attention on the key battleground state, which is rich in electoral votes.
With him on the tour was his 22-year-old daughter Jenna, marking her first foray into campaigning.
"She's already given me good advice," Bush quipped of his daughter. "She said, 'Dad, change your shirt."
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