PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS Bush launches post-debate rebuttal in Pa.

Kerry said Bush keeps debating with himself on Iraq.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- A day after debating Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, President Bush leveled a new attack against the Massachusetts senator, accusing him of employing contradictory words and deeds that show a lack of understanding about the war on terror and Iraq.
While Bush attacked, his White House and campaign aides sought to portray the president as successful in Thursday night's nationally televised debate, despite several post-debate flash polls that found that more viewers thought Kerry won.
Speaking at a large outdoor rally in a park here, Bush topped his standard campaign speech with what appeared to be a post-debate rebuttal to some of Kerry's claims and a continuation of the GOP strategy of portraying Kerry as a chronic flip-flopper.
"You can't have it both ways," Bush said. "You can't say [Iraq] is a mistake and not a mistake. You can't be for getting rid of Saddam Hussein when things look good and against it when times are hard. You can't claim terrorists are flowing across the border into Iraq yet, at the same time, try to claim that Iraq is somehow a diversion in the war against terrorism."
Kerry's claims
During the debate, Kerry agreed that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to the United States, but said the president "rushed the war in Iraq without a plan to win the peace." He also said, "Iraq was not even close to a center of the war on terror before the president invaded it."
Bush mocked Kerry for claiming he made a mistake in his explanation for why he voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq, then voted against an $87 billion supplemental budget for Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The mistake wasn't what Sen. Kerry said, the mistake was what Sen. Kerry did," Bush said.
"When America puts her troops in harm's way, I believe they deserve the best training, the best equipment and the whole-hearted support of our government," Bush continued. "My opponent last night said they deserve better. They certainly deserve better than they got from Sen. Kerry when he voted to send them to war, then voted against funding our troops in combat."
Kerry voted for a Democratic version of the bill that would have raised the $87 billion by repealing Bush's income tax cuts for people who make more than $300,000 a year. When that measure failed, Kerry voted against the $87 billion on final passage, saying his vote was a protest against adding to the federal budget deficit.
Kerry told a Tampa rally Friday that Bush "keeps debating himself" on Iraq.
"He keeps trying to say 'Well, we're not, we're not, we don't want somebody who wants to leave. We don't, we don't want to wilt or waver.' I don't know how many times I have heard that," Kerry said, mimicking Bush's syntax.
"Well, Mr. President, nobody is talking about leaving. Nobody is talking about wilting or wavering. We're talking about winning and getting the job done right."