Braley asks Kerry not to campaign

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By Ed Tibbetts | Wednesday, November 1, 2006 12:45 AM CST | () comments

U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., speaks in support of Democrat gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides at a rally held at Pasadena City College in Pasadena, Calif. (AP photo)

BREAKING NEWS: (Updated: 6:06 p.m.) Democratic congressional candidate Bruce Braley has asked John Kerry not to campaign with him Thursday in the Quad-Cities as planned, citing the flap between the White House and the senator over his remarks concerning Iraq.

Jeff Giertz, a campaign spokesman, said Braley cancelled their appearance Tuesday afternoon.

“He’s not condoning the partisan bickering,” Giertz said of Braley, a lawyer from Waterloo who is running against Bettendorf businessman Mike Whalen for Iowa’s 1st District Congressional seat.

The White House harshly criticized Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts and the party’s 2004 presidential nominee, on Tuesday for remarks he made Monday in California, where he encouraged people to work hard in school lest they “get stuck in Iraq.”

President Bush said Kerry was suggesting “the men and women of our military are somehow uneducated,” calling the remark “insulting and shameful.”

Kerry said the remark was a botched joke aimed at the president, not the troops, according to CNN. And he said the White House response is proof of its willingness to “reduce anything in America to raw politics.”

The Braley campaign had confirmed the appearance with Kerry in the Quad-Cities, but Giertz said Braley, unprompted, asked that Kerry not attend.

Kerry’s office could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday night.

“We’re upset with the partisan bickering that’s going on between Kerry and the White House,” Giertz said, adding that it does not contribute to a solution in Iraq.

He added that Braley thought Kerry’s remarks were “inappropriate.”

Late in the day, Republicans challenged Braley to repudiate the remarks.

Russ Perisho, a spokesman for Whalen, said this afternoon that the campaign expected to make a comment after Braley and Kerry appeared together Thursday. But after being informed of Braley’s decision, Perisho said, “It appears to us Mr. Braley is trying to separate from someone whose views parallel Mr. Braley’s right up and down the line.”

According to The Associated Press, Kerry, a potential 2008 presidential candidate said Monday: “You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” CNN reported today that a Kerry aide said he mangled the remarks in his delivery.

What he meant to say was that if one does not work hard in school, they will “end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq,” a remark aimed at the president, not at the troops, CNN reported.

Ed Tibbetts can be contacted at (563) 383-2327 or etibbetts@qctimes.com.