Campaign Focus on Iraq Has Risks and Rewards

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http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/politics/politics-campaign-iraq.html

Campaign Focus on Iraq Has Risks and Rewards
By REUTERS

Filed at 4:50 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The campaign's focus on Iraq holds risks and rewards for President Bush and Democratic rival John Kerry and it could leave both at the mercy of unpredictable events as Iraq becomes more unstable.

With security in Iraq deteriorating, Kerry turned the spotlight on Bush's war leadership on Monday with a scathing attack on the president's credibility and judgment.

The Massachusetts senator, confronting an issue that has given him heartburn for months, used his toughest language yet during a New York speech to accuse Bush of ``a lack of planning, an absence of candor, arrogance and outright incompetence'' in Iraq.

The spotlight on the war is a gamble for Kerry, whose sometimes convoluted Iraq stance has hurt him in polls while Bush's war leadership has proven a strength. Some advisers told Kerry to shift the campaign debate from war and terror to more familiar Democratic turf like the economy and health care.

But pollsters and analysts said Kerry could benefit by confronting the issue head-on, particularly with violence mounting in Iraq. There is still great public uneasiness about the future of Iraq, they said, and Kerry's anti-war supporters are certain to be inspired by a more aggressive approach.<snip>