Kerry Disagrees With Wife on Bin Laden
By NEDRA PICKLER ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 05, 2004
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/s.../100503990.html
TIPTON, Iowa (AP) - John Kerry often says he loves that his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, speaks her mind. But that doesn't mean he always agrees with her. And on Tuesday he said he didn't.
Kerry told reporters he disagreed with his wife's assessment that the possible U.S. capture of al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden before the Nov. 2 election could be politically motivated.
He momentarily confused the man blamed for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, saying: "I have said again and again that even if Saddam Hussein is captured or killed in the next instant, it won't change my view about how I can run a more effective war on terror or how I can make America safer."
Correcting himself, Kerry said: "Osama bin Laden should have been the complete focus of our effort in the war on terror." He said his wife was "cautioning people against the possibility" that a capture could be politically motivated, not saying it would be. Heinz Kerry predicted at a recent fund-raiser that bin Laden will be captured just before the election.
Though the election is a month away, Kerry's campaign has started raising money to prepare for a recount - telling prospective donors it doesn't want to be "outgunned" like Democrat Al Gore's campaign was in 2000.
The Federal Election Commission last week told the Kerry-Edwards campaign it could use its legal compliance fund to cover any recount costs. The FEC was responding to a request by the campaign for guidance on whether it could use the fund, which is financed with limited donations from individuals.
"Right now I need all of you to join me and make a pledge: The mistakes of the 2000 election will NEVER be repeated again," Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill wrote Monday in a fund-raising e-mail. "The day after the election, as the recount began, Al Gore's campaign was already outgunned, outmanned and outmatched - we learned one lesson: be prepared."
The FEC has not yet said whether Kerry and President Bush can raise unlimited individual donations to cover recount costs, as the 2000 candidates could. During the Florida ballot dispute, Bush voluntarily limited his donations to $5,000 each and raised nearly $14 million; Gore accepted unlimited checks and spent about $3.2 million on the recount.
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Associated Press writer Sharon Theimer in Washington contributed to this report.