Kerry says Bush weakens middle class

Democrat John Kerry said yesterday President George W. Bush had weakened the middle class and accused his campaign of using "fear and smear" tactics to avoid debating the real issues facing Americans this year.

In a pre-emptive strike ahead of next week's Republican National Convention to be held in New York, the Democratic presidential candidate urged voters not to believe all they hear from Mr Bush and his party and said Americans must make a fundamental choice at a critical time in the country's future.

Mr Kerry said Mr Bush's campaign and his allies have "turned to the tactics of fear and smear because they can't talk about jobs, health care, energy independence and rebuilding our alliances - the real issues that matter to the American people," Mr Kerry said.

"They have no plans, no positive vision and no understanding of an urgent and undeniable truth - a stronger America begins at home," he told a supportive audience at Cooper Union, a college for artists, architects and engineers.

With 70 days to go before the presidential ballot, the Massachusetts senator aimed to get beyond an election year controversy over his Vietnam War military service fuelled by a group of anti-Kerry veterans with ties to Mr Bush allies and other Republicans.

Mr Kerry charged that Mr Bush is "hiding behind front groups, saying anything and doing anything to avoid the real issues that matter like jobs, health care and the war in Iraq."

The controversy over how Mr Kerry won some of his war medals has recently dominated the neck-and-neck race for the White House as both candidates try to portray themselves as the best man to lead the United States in its war against global terrorism.

Mr Bush's own record during the Vietnam war has also drawn criticism from some Democrats who have accused him of going absent without leave from the Texas Air National Guard, citing gaps in his attendance record.

Republicans yesterday again urged Mr Kerry to join Mr Bush in calling for an end to all advertising by groups outside the main political campaigns, including those critical of the president.

"The moment of truth for John Kerry has come and gone hundreds of times, and he has passed up every opportunity to condemn efforts by his campaign and supporters to divide America by who served and how," said Mr Bush's campaign chairman Marc Racicot.