Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., won a place on Oregon’s Democratic ticket for the presidential election in Tuesday’s primary election.
But as Kerry finished a two-day campaign stop in Portland on Tuesday, Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., called Kerry the wrong choice for Oregon.
“President Bush has set our country on the course of recovery at home and strength abroad,” Smith said via teleconference Tuesday. “We are safer today because this president has had the backbone to follow terrorism where terrorists are and go after them, and they have failed to strike us again on our own shores since 9-11.”
Smith said Kerry has wavered on several key issues, which shows weakness.
“At the end of the day, part of Sen. Kerry’s problem is that he is on both sides of virtually every issue,” he said. “In all of this, he claims to have been misinformed or misled and he is sounding like he is the chief of chumps if he is asking to be made the commander in chief.”
Smith said President Bush is the best choice in the election.
“And so my plea to Republicans, Independents and Democrats is that John Kerry is not the way to go,” he said. “He represents socialism at home and appeasement abroad. President Bush represents economic recovery and American leadership.”
However, College Democrats co-Chairman Kevin Curtin said he is pleased Kerry is focusing on Oregon, adding that Kerry’s plans for tuition tax credits, along with allowing students to serve two years of community service in exchange for tuition, will help students.
“I think those are two things that would really help out with students who want to get an education and can’t afford to because tuition is going up so much lately,” he said.
Curtin praised Kerry’s ability to change his stance on an issue.
“I think things change in the country from time to time and you have to be able to step back and say this is the best thing for the country at this time,” he said.