[CrimsonTide4]

John Kerry Meets With Dean; Edwards Next
42 minutes ago

By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) on Wednesday called for deeper tax cuts for the middle class than proposed by President Bush (news - web sites) and described his Republican critics as "the most crooked ... lying group I've ever seen."

After urging labor leaders to support his campaign to oust the president, Kerry met with onetime rival Howard Dean (news - web sites) to discuss a possible endorsement and what role the former Vermont governor might play in his campaign. Kerry greeted Dean as he arrived at campaign headquarters, and the two joined hands and raised them high for cameras.


Kerry was scheduled to meet with another key rival, John Edwards (news - web sites), on Thursday.


Anticipating their meeting, the Bush campaign issued "Howard Dean's Greatest Hits on John Kerry," a 10-item recounting of Dean criticism of his rival for the nomination. The quotes from news stories include Dean's statement in January that "you're not going to change America by nominating somebody who's a Washington insider whose biggest long suit is talk."


Kerry had 2,001 delegates after sweeping four Southern primaries Tuesday, an Associated Press analysis showed. He wasn't expected to reach 2,162, the number needed to secure the nomination, until next week because of the way the party allocates delegates.


Earlier Wednesday in Chicago, Kerry toughened his comments about his GOP critics after a supporter urged him to take on Bush. "Let me tell you, we've just begun to fight," Kerry said. "We're going to keep pounding. These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever seen. It's scary."


Kerry spokesman David Wade said the senator was referring to Republican critics in general. "The Republicans have launched the most personal, crooked, deceitful attacks over the last four years," Wade said. "He's a Democrat who fights back."


The Bush-Cheney campaign answered back, saying, "At every turn, John Kerry has claimed to be the victim of an imaginary smear machine. John Kerry has run a relentlessly negative campaign from the very beginning and this comment is completely consistent with that."


In a speech to top leaders of the AFL-CIO, Kerry said a "Bush Tax" stemming from the president's economic policies has driven up costs for working families. He vowed to reverse that trend while asking those making more than $200,000 a year to pay the same taxes they paid under President Clinton (news - web sites), effectively repealing portions of a tax cut Bush pushed through Congress.


Kerry also proposed creating a $50 billion fund to help states provide relief from state and local taxes for working families that he said have been struggling.


"Under George Bush's policies, middle-class families are paying more," he said. "America's middle class can't afford a tax increase. That's why we're going to give the middle class a tax cut."


In response, the Bush campaign accused Kerry of favoring broad tax increases that would affect all taxpayers.


"John Kerry has voted for higher taxes 350 times and his numbers for new spending don't add up," said Steve Schmidt, a Bush campaign spokesman. "His campaign-trail promises mean he is going to raise taxes by at least $900 billion." It is the first time the Bush campaign has put a number on tax hikes it says Kerry favors.


Kerry, the Democratic nomination well in hand, is moving to engage Bush, and the president is returning the favor. The Massachusetts senator said Bush has resorted to personal attacks at an unprecedented early stage in the campaign.


"George Bush is running on the same old Republican tactics of fear — and they're already getting tired," he said. "But we have something better than attacks, we have the facts and we have the truth."


Kerry said a middle-class tax cut would do far more to spark the economy than what Bush has pushed.


"Our middle-class tax cut will help working people afford college and pay for health care and make ends meet," he said. "If this president wants to make this election about taxes after he's cut billions for billionaires and given middle-class families a larger share to pay, we're ready for that fight."

Kerry spoke via satellite to AFL-CIO leaders at their winter convention in Florida, courting a constituency he's counting on for money and organizational muscle. Facing an unfriendly White House, labor is likely to play an energetic role in the Kerry campaign, even if he wasn't the first choice of most unions.