After slip-up on US Iraq troops, Kerry retreats from campaign trail

[Ron Burgundy]

After 'botched joke,' Kerry retreats from US campaign trail

1 hour, 42 minutes ago

US Senator John Kerry said he has pulled back from campaigning for candidates in next week's legislative elections because he wanted to end the distraction caused by his remarks that Americans who neglect their education would "get stuck in Iraq."

"I'm coming back to Washington today ... because I don't want to be a distraction to these campaigns," the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate told US television.

Kerry said he regretted what he called a "botched joke" made to students in California, but accused his Republican opponents of trying to shift attention away from the unpopular war in Iraq.

"Of course, I'm sorry about a botched joke. You think I love botched jokes? I mean, it's pretty stupid," he told MSNBC television.

The decorated Vietnam War veteran insisted his words were being willfully misinterpreted.

"This is a textbook Republican campaign strategy ... try to make something else said the issue, not the policy, not their responsibility," Kerry said.

"If anyone thinks that a veteran, someone like me ... would somehow criticize more than 140,000 troops serving in Iraq and not the president and his people who put them there, they're crazy," he said.

But Kerry's decision not to appear with fellow Democrats came after several members of his party had already begun to distance themselves from the Massachusetts senator.

Democrats on the stump in particular made a point of criticizing Kerry, including Nebraska House candidate Scott Kleeb who called the remark "an example of politics at its worst."

Iowa Democratic House candidate Bruce Braley also asked Kerry not to appear with him Thursday at a rally as planned, according to press reports.

And Democratic candidate Harold Ford, running for Tennessee's vacant Senate seat, called on Kerry to apologize to US troops in Iraq.

Republican leaders meanwhile -- including US President George W. Bush -- seized upon the contretemps as proof of their long-held assertion that Democrats are inept and insensitive on military and security matters, including the key issue of the way forward in Iraq.

On Tuesday, Bush called on his erstwhile opponent in the bitter 2004 White House race to apologize to the US troops now in Iraq.

"The members of the United States military are plenty smart, and they are plenty brave, and the senator from Massachusetts owes them an apology," Bush said Tuesday.