NYT: Taking Offensive, Edwards Says Kerry Administration Would "Crush" AQ

[DeepModem Mom]

Jacqueline Larma/Associated Press
Senator John Edwards at a rally in Phoenixville, Pa., one of three events he attended in Pennsylvania on Sunday.


THE DEMOCRATIC RUNNING MATE
Taking the Offensive, Edwards Says a Kerry Administration Would 'Crush' Al Qaeda
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD

Published: September 20, 2004


JOHNSTOWN, Pa., Sept. 19 - Opening a weeklong Democratic offensive on Iraq and terror, Senator John Edwards promised Sunday that a Kerry White House would eliminate what he called a "backdoor draft'' of Reservists and National Guard members and would "crush'' Al Qaeda....

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Mr. Edwards, at a rally in the Philadelphia suburb of Phoenixville, condemned a remark by Representative H. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, the speaker of the House, who suggested Saturday that Al Qaeda might find it easier to strike if Mr. Kerry were in office.

Mr. Edwards said the remark was part of a pattern of Republican "fear mongering."

"Let me just say this in the simplest possible terms," Mr. Edwards said. "When John Kerry is president of the United States, we will find Al Qaeda where they are and crush them before they can do damage to the American people."

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In recent days Mr. Edwards has sought to critique the Bush administration more aggressively and answer its attacks. The shift came after some Democrats questioned whether the ticket was hitting back hard enough on Republican charges and whether Mr. Edwards's national profile was high enough. Mr. Edwards made three stops in Pennsylvania, a state Al Gore won in 2000, but where polls suggest the race is tight. Mr. Bush plans to visit the state on Wednesday and Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/politics/campaign/20edwards.html

[truthisfreedom]

1. we will crush you.

it's a popular message. i'm not disappointed.