http://www.latimes.com/services/site...ered.intercept
THE RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE
Kerry Condemns Anti-Bush Ad
'This should be a campaign of issues, not insults,' the Democrat says after MoveOn attacks president's Air National Guard record.
By Richard Simon
Times Staff Writer
August 18, 2004
WASHINGTON — Sen. John F. Kerry took a cue from Sen. John McCain on Tuesday and denounced a television ad by one of his allies attacking President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard.
In the latest twist in an ongoing debate about military credentials, Kerry condemned the new ad by the MoveOn political action committee, even though it was produced in response to an ad questioning Kerry's Vietnam War record.
"This should be a campaign of issues, not insults," Kerry said in a written statement.
Kerry called the ad "inappropriate" after McCain (R-Ariz.), a former Vietnam prisoner of war, criticized the MoveOn commercial. The 30-second ad accuses Bush of using family connections to avoid the Vietnam War.
McCain, who is popular with independents, is campaigning for Bush but has come to Kerry's defense against Republican attacks on the candidate's military record. He recently criticized an anti-Kerry ad that featured Vietnam veterans as "dishonest" and "dishonorable."<snip>