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By Associated PressGOP activists meeting in Miami Beach predict the Massachusetts Democratic presidential candidate won't win a single Southern state.
MIAMI BEACH - Florida Gov. Jeb Bush issued a harsh criticism of John Kerry - accusing him of repeatedly flipping sides on issues - as he told Southern Republican activists Friday his brother is a man of his word.
"You get a little dizzy if you listen to John Kerry explain his recent position on any particular issue at the time," said Bush, brother of President Bush. "There really is a tale of two Kerrys."
Bush said Kerry, the Massachusetts senator expected to be the Democratic nominee to oppose Republican President Bush in November, has changed sides on tax relief, free trade agreements, the president's No Child Left Behind Act, the Patriot Act, the Persian Gulf War, the current war in Iraq and more.
Kerry campaign spokesman Mark Kornblau said later that Bush's comments were part of the GOP's "smear machine" and that Republicans were avoiding issues such as lost jobs, rising health care costs, and a "failed Iraq policy."
"For George Bush and his allies, who have no credibility left with the American people, to accuse John Kerry of flip-flopping is shaky ground to run on," Kornblau said.
Gov. Bush said Kerry also has been against space exploration and voted against overseas citrus marketing, but predicted Kerry would support NASA and orange growers during a three-day swing through Florida beginning Sunday.
"We're thankful for the moneys that will be brought to our state for economic purposes, but the rest of it's going to be a pain," he said of Kerry's tour.
He said his brother is a person of character.
"George Bush is a decent, honorable man. He may not have all that fancy rhetoric that people up in Massachusetts think's real important," Bush said. "I don't think that's a measurement of one's character. My brother is a plain-spoken, direct-talking person and I think people in this state appreciate that a whole lot."
Earlier in the day, Republicans talked about gains in the South while predicting Kerry won't win a single Southern state as he tries to keep the president from winning a second term.
Republican strategist Ralph Reed painted Kerry as a candidate who doesn't care about the South.
"In a rare outburst of candor a few weeks ago in New Hampshire, he said, and I quote, "It is a mistake to look to the South to win the presidency,"' Reed said of Kerry.
Kornblau said Kerry intends to campaign hard in the South and "win Florida and several other Southern states."
Kerry sets Tampa dialogueDemocratic presidential candidate John Kerry will hold a town-hall style meeting Tuesday morning in Tampa.
His campaign says "invited guests" will gather at Ballast Point Park Pier before Kerry attends a private fundraiser in Tampa that is expected to raise as much as $500,000 for the campaign.