Kerry says Bush mismanagement behind oil price hikes

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SANTA FE, New Mexico - Democratic challenger John Kerry has blamed President George W Bush's "gross mismanagement" of the Iraq war for rising gas prices and vowed to free the United States from dependence on Middle East oil in 10 years.

The Massachusetts senator rebuked his Republican rival, a former Texas oil man, for warming "the hearts of his powerful friends" in the industry with a US$15 billion ($22 billion) tax break while leaving average American consumers out in the cold.

"In the past four years, in nearly every decision he's made, George W Bush has chosen the powerful and well-connected over middle class Americans," Kerry told supporters in Santa Fe. "When it comes to developing a real energy policy, George Bush has run out of gas."

Speaking in New Mexico, Kerry reminded voters that the state was home to the Manhattan Project that marshalled the knowledge and technology during World War Two to build nuclear weapons. He called for a similar effort to push scientists to develop alternative fuels.

At separate stops in the crucial swing state, the White House rivals renewed their campaign-trail assaults on each other's leadership and judgment ahead of Wednesday's (Thursday NZ time) final debate.

"Just this weekend, we saw new evidence that Senator Kerry fundamentally misunderstands the war on terror," Bush told supporters in Hobbs, New Mexico, citing a New York Times Magazine interview with the Massachusetts senator.

Kerry was quoted as saying "we have to get back to the place where we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance."

"Our goal is not to reduce terror to some acceptable level of nuisance," Bush said. "Our goal is to defeat terror by staying on the offensive, destroying terrorist networks and spreading freedom and liberty around the world."

In a sign of how important New Mexico is to both candidates in a neck-and-neck November 2 election, Kerry quipped: "George Bush is in a state of denial. I'll tell you what, New Mexico has five electoral votes. State of denial has none. I like my chances."

Kerry, who was staying in Santa Fe to prepare for the third and final presidential debate in Arizona, said higher gas prices had cost Americans US$34 billion ($50 billion) since Bush took office.

With the United States importing 2.5 million barrels of oil from the Middle East every day, Kerry said he would increase fuel efficiency and produce alternative and renewable sources of energy, relying on US ingenuity "not the Saudi royal family."

"Last week, gas prices hit a record US$53 a barrel and one big reason is because of this president's gross mismanagement of the war in Iraq," he said. "I have a real energy plan to harness the full force of America's technology and make this nation independent of Middle East oil in 10 years."

Oil prices were at an all-time high, a gallon of gas cost nearly US$2, the cost of heating the average home has gone up 91 per cent and high energy costs have pushed up prices across the board, Kerry said.

"To borrow a saying, when it comes to George Bush's record on gas prices, he can run but he can't hide. Facts are stubborn things, Mr President," Kerry said.

Benchmark crude oil prices in New York hit record highs of near US$54 a barrel on Monday and London Brent crude prices rose above US$50 for the first time ever.

Oil prices are up about 65 per cent this year, recently boosted by supply fears as Gulf of Mexico producers struggle to restore pumping that was shut down by Hurricane Ivan. US average retail petrol prices are again approaching US$2 a gallon, a four-month high.

Treasury Secretary John Snow on Sunday called the record gas prices a "drag" that created "headwinds" for the economy and took disposable income away from consumers.

In large part, Bush's energy policy seeks to expand supplies of domestic oil and natural gas, while Kerry's focuses on developing alternative fuels and renewable sources to reduce US demand for oil.

Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said Kerry's "obstruction" of a national energy policy made the senator's "current political opportunism completely hypocritical."

"John Kerry will tell people whatever he thinks they want to hear, and his multiple positions are destroying his credibility with the American people," Schmidt said.

TIGHT RACE

With three weeks left before the Nov. 2 election, Kerry opened a three-point lead on Bush in the latest Reuters/Zogby poll. Most polls show the two contenders within a few points of each other in a race that could rival the disputed 2000 election for suspense.

The tight race has turned every battleground state into a potential kingmaker, and the five electoral votes in New Mexico, which Democrat Al Gore narrowly won in 2000, could be a key. Polls show the state, along with northern neighbor Colorado, is still a toss-up.

Bush appears headed to a win in one-time battleground Arizona, which borders New Mexico to the west, where Democratic hopes that a rising Hispanic population would bolster Kerry have not panned out.

Bush stayed on the offensive in Hobbs, part of a stepped-up effort to attack Kerry's 20-year Senate voting record and paint him as a liberal who could not be trusted as commander in chief.

"We have a different view of the world, different view of America's role in confronting threats," he said, chiding Kerry for describing terrorism in the interview as a problem like organized crime, prostitution and illegal gambling that can be reduced but never fully eliminated.

"This is naive and dangerous, as was Senator Kerry's reluctance earlier this year to call the war on terror an actual war," Vice President Dick Cheney said in Medford, New Jersey.

The Bush-Cheney campaign featured Kerry's remarks in an advertisement that asked "How can Kerry protect us when he doesn't understand the threat?"

The Kerry campaign fired back with its own ad citing Bush's interview with NBC in which the president said he did not think the war on terror could be won. "Not with his failed leadership," the ad said.

- REUTERS