SPRING GREEN, Wis.-Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry pointedly criticized George Bush for exercising poor judgment during his term as president and defended himself against recent Republican attacks, as he addressed Wisconsin citizens at River Valley Middle School Monday morning.
Kerry, who will reside in Spring Green this week to prepare for Thursday's first presidential debate, said the best way to prepare is to talk to citizens.
\America needs a real conversation about our future,"" he said. ""What we don't need are all these ... junked-up political advertisements.""
The bulk of Kerry's speech focused on the war in Iraq, calling it this generation's equivalent of the Cold War. He said Bush refuses to come clean with the American people on the state of the Middle East.
Kerry told the audience to remember when Bush landed an airplane on an aircraft carrier in May 2003 and said ""mission accomplished.""
""The mission was not accomplished when he said it,"" he said. ""He didn't know it, he didn't understand it. It's not accomplished today, and he's still trying to hide from the American people what needs to be done in order to be successful in Iraq.""
Responding to recent criticisms that he does not have a clear plan on how to deal with Iraq, Kerry detailed his plan to ""get things done"" in the Middle East. If elected, he promises to hold a summit with world powers and decide how to assume the burdens.
""Working with other countries is not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength, and that's what we need,"" he said, adding he also wants to train Iraqis to govern themselves and be able to hold their own elections.
Kerry also slammed Bush's record on health care, jobs and education, indicating Bush is the first president in 72 years to actually lose jobs during his term.
Recent negative ads have degraded Kerry's record as a senator, but Kerry said those ads are a sign that Bush has no record to run on.
""I invite you to look at my record of 35 years. I fought for my country, and I volunteered to fight for my country. And when I came back, I did what I thought was patriotic and volunteered to stand up and call it the way I saw it,"" he said.
Although Kerry tried to clarify his campaign message, Black Earth resident Johanna Solms said she thinks he can do an even better job to simplify his beliefs.
When asked if this would help Kerry defeat Bush, she replied, ""Oh, yeah. Bush is the master of simple.""
