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Kerry fires back at Dean charges of cronyism
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Feb 01: Democratic Senator John Kerry rejected charges his votes in the US Senate were influenced by campaign contributions, saying he had spent his whole career battling special interests.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Feb 01: Democratic Senator John Kerry rejected charges his votes in the US Senate were influenced by campaign contributions, saying he had spent his whole career battling special interests.
Speaking to reporters after accepting the endorsement of Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm yesterday, Kerry said he would put his record up against any of the Democratic candidates seeking the chance to run against President George W. Bush in November.
Michigan holds a primary next Saturday. Kerry is now making a seven-state campaign swing in advance of the democratic contests on Tuesday.
But the reports that he had accepted thousands of dollars in contributions from lobbyists dogged him through the day, which he began in Missouri before a boisterous rally, launching his own attack on Bush for allowing ''lobbyists and special interests'' to influence White House policy.
''I've spent a career fighting against special interests,'' Kerry said. ''I'll take a second seat to nobody in this race with respect to my lifetime fights against special interests and my efforts to run campaigns on a high standard.''
He said he had accepted no money from political action committees or ''special interests'' and that no vote of his was ever influenced by a campaign contribution. ''No one has even suggested that I've done other than to take them on,'' he said.
Kerry was responding to comments by his main rival, former Vermont governor Howard Dean, who was the front-runner in the democratic race until Kerry won the first two contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Dean said the four-term Senator from Massachusetts was beholden to special interests after the Washington Post and the New York Times reported that he had accepted more than 600,000 dollars in donations from lobbyists over the course of his 19 years in the US Senate.
Bureau Report
Michigan holds a primary next Saturday. Kerry is now making a seven-state campaign swing in advance of the democratic contests on Tuesday.
But the reports that he had accepted thousands of dollars in contributions from lobbyists dogged him through the day, which he began in Missouri before a boisterous rally, launching his own attack on Bush for allowing ''lobbyists and special interests'' to influence White House policy.
''I've spent a career fighting against special interests,'' Kerry said. ''I'll take a second seat to nobody in this race with respect to my lifetime fights against special interests and my efforts to run campaigns on a high standard.''
He said he had accepted no money from political action committees or ''special interests'' and that no vote of his was ever influenced by a campaign contribution. ''No one has even suggested that I've done other than to take them on,'' he said.
Kerry was responding to comments by his main rival, former Vermont governor Howard Dean, who was the front-runner in the democratic race until Kerry won the first two contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Dean said the four-term Senator from Massachusetts was beholden to special interests after the Washington Post and the New York Times reported that he had accepted more than 600,000 dollars in donations from lobbyists over the course of his 19 years in the US Senate.
Bureau Report