Washington, Feb 13: The head of President George W. Bush's Republican Party accused Democrat John Kerry's campaign of planning the ''dirtiest campaign in modern presidential politics'' in a scorched-earth bid to oust bush in November. Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie took the offensive against the democrats after days in which bush has been on the defensive over democratic charges that he shirked his air national guard duties in the Vietnam war. ''It's only February and they have made clear they intend to run the dirtiest campaign in modern presidential politics,'' Gillespie said, according to speech excerpts released by the RNC. The Jerry campaign quickly fired back, calling Gillespie's comments ''nothing more than a smear from the right-wing attack machine'' and likened it to what democrats consider underhand tactics used against Republican Sen. John Mccain of Arizona in 2000 and democrat Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia in 2002.
''It's what they did to John Mccain in South Carolina and Max Cleland in Georgia. But it's not going to work this time,'' said a Kerry campaign spokesman, Chad Clanton.

With Kerry looking increasingly likely to emerge as the winner of Democratic Party contests to pick an opponent for Bush in the November election, republicans are stepping up their attacks on him.

Gillespie seized on comments by a Kerry celebrity supporter, the rock performer Moby, that were published last week in the New York daily news.


Bureau Report