Domestic Issues

WASHINGTON -- President Bush stopped within a whisker of announcing for re-election yesterday during a spirited Rose Garden appearance in which he declared that he is eager to take on Democratic charges that he cares more about foreign policy than domestic issues.The only thing that might keep him from running for a second term, Mr. Bush told reporters, would be "a health problem -- and I don't have one," adding that he feels "like a million bucks."Previewing an election campaign that is to be the subject of a strategy session this morning at Camp David, the president said he intends to prove to the American people that he is working not only for world peace but for a domestic agenda that lacks only cooperation from congressional Democrats to be successful.

Melissa Davis' husband had six domestic-violence arrests in less than a year of marriage, and was released by a judge on his own recognizance. Katie Hadel's ex-boyfriend was let out of jail early on good behavior. And Candace Hurt's husband had three women seek court protection against him but didn't follow through. Davis, Hadel and Hurt all were killed this year in what police describe as domestic homicides by these men. Police, prosecutors or court officials had been in touch with each of them in the months, days, or, in Davis' case, hours before they died.

WASHINGTON -- Although voters might not know it from the campaign so far, the next president will face issues beyond tax cuts, health insurance and Bob Jones University. Global terrorism, for example. A swelling trade deficit. A brooding, strengthening China. A desperate Russia. An unstable, war-torn Africa. Yet in keeping with other post-Cold War presidential campaigns, foreign policy has been largely blotted out by domestic issues in the election of 2000. While all four leading candidates "are hovered around the center" on foreign policy, according to James Goldgeier, a professor at George Washington University, their positions differ enough to have generated a vigorous debate.

Bonita Linkins beamed as she lit the candles on the Disney-themed birthday cake she bought to surprise her son for his 21st birthday last month. As she sat with her children, Tony and 16-year-old Symone, she reminisced about good times and fond memories. But behind the smiles and candle smoke lives a painful story that none of them will forget, one that helps remind them that not one day should be taken for granted. Linkins is a survivor of domestic violence. As young children, Tony and Symone say they witnessed the physical and emotional abuse their mother endured, often becoming victims themselves.

The war in the Persian Gulf has given a striking boost to the nation's confidence and morale, but Americans are now turning their attention to the economy and other domestic concerns about which they are far less ebullient, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.The poll found that President Bush is still on an extraordinary high with the American public, with an overall approval rating of 88 percent.It showed Americans setting a post-Vietnam record for confidence in the military and voicing a new conviction that their country is not a declining world power.

WASHINGTON -- They lined up one by one at the microphone -- students, teachers, retirees, a Holocaust survivor, a Quaker -- voicing anxious questions and edgy suspicions about the war in Iraq and what the future might hold for U.S. forces there. Doubts and fears dominated as about 75 Marylanders gathered in the Towson University Union on Monday night with Democratic Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin of Baltimore to debate what the U.S. role should be in Iraq once the war ends. Cardin's gathering was pegged specifically to the conflict in Iraq.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- After a one-week hiatus, Bob Dole resumed his attack on President Clinton's foreign policy yesterday, charging that reports of continued unrest in northern Iraq "raise questions" about the administration's strategy in the region and threaten to undermine U.S. credibility.In a written statement released through his presidential campaign, Dole questioned whether Clinton's strategy "has advanced U.S. interests in the region." But in campaign appearances in Georgia and Florida, Dole barely referred to Iraq, instead concentrating on domestic issues.

Melissa Davis' husband had six domestic-violence arrests in less than a year of marriage, and was released by a judge on his own recognizance. Katie Hadel's ex-boyfriend was let out of jail early on good behavior. And Candace Hurt's husband had three women seek court protection against him but didn't follow through. Davis, Hadel and Hurt all were killed this year in what police describe as domestic homicides by these men. Police, prosecutors or court officials had been in touch with each of them in the months, days, or, in Davis' case, hours before they died.

WASHINGTON - Governors running for president invariably are attacked for their lack of foreign policy experience. This arises from the nature of a governor's job, because unlike the government of the United States or the City Council of Berkeley, Calif., state governments are not active in foreign policy. But the "weak on foreign policy" criticism carries new seriousness in the first presidential election since 9/11. The rap that governors are weak in foreign affairs is proving to be spot-on in the case of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.

ROME -- President Bush paused yesterday between a summit session of the Atlantic alliance and economic talks in the Netherlands to renew his increasingly defensive battle with Congress.He charged that if it had been left up to the Democrats, the United States would be sitting "fat, dumb and happy with Saddam Hussein maybe in Saudi Arabia."The president firmly turned aside the Democrats' latest plan to stimulate the economy -- a tax credit for working Americans combined with higher taxes on the wealthy -- and argued that the nation was no longer in a recession.

A second Anne Arundel County police officer in a week has settled a criminal charge against him stemming from claims of violence at his home. Richard Mauk, 37, of Davidsonville, is at least the third county police officer to face such allegations in little more than a year. A fourth is scheduled to be tried next month on charges of misconduct after he was accused of taking a photo of himself groping a teenage girl during a traffic stop and threatening to jail her for drunk driving if she failed to cooperate.

MIAMI -- Even as he continued to grapple with Mideast violence, President Bush used a visit yesterday to South Florida to focus attention on his domestic agenda, promoting free trade, low taxes and his vision for new immigration laws as cornerstones of a strong economy. That message has taken on new urgency for the White House as economic growth slows and high gas prices continue to sap public satisfaction with Bush's management of the economy. And it came less than 100 days before congressional elections that Democrats hope will catapult them back into power on Capitol Hill.

WAKEFIELD, Ohio -- John Kerry, locked in a dead heat with President Bush just over two weeks before Election Day, is finally getting to ask voters the question he has been wanting to pose all along. Are you better off than you were four years ago? Kerry, his candidacy bolstered by strong performances in three closely watched presidential debates, is in the throes of an intensive push to turn voters against Bush as he reminds them of the mistakes he says the president has made. Kerry plans in the coming days to paint the president as a hopelessly out-of-touch leader who has cruelly turned his back on middle-class families in favor of rich and powerful interests, while presenting himself to voters as a strong alternative who cares about ordinary people.

MILWAUKEE - President Bush and Sen. John Kerry barnstormed across Midwestern battleground states yesterday, trading bitter criticisms on jobs, education and health care, as the Bush campaign angrily denied accusations by the Democrat that re-electing the president would raise the potential for a military draft. Kerry was making what his campaign aides call his "closing arguments" in the presidential race, centered on a blistering condemnation of Bush's economic policies and a promise to create jobs, raise wages and cut costs for middle-class families.

TEMPE, Ariz.- Sen. John Kerry blamed President Bush for turning his back on the nation's economic woes while Bush accused the Democrat of plotting to raise taxes on Americans to finance big-government plans, as the two candidates grappled for advantage during the final presidential debate. "You know, there's a mainstream in American politics and you sit right on the far left bank," Bush told Kerry, as the president defended his record and painted his opponent's plans as a "bait and switch" that would end up hurting Americans.

THIRD PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE 9 p.m. EDT on cable news and broadcast outlets WASHINGTON - The dead-even presidential contest enters its final phase tonight as President Bush and Sen. John Kerry square off over domestic issues in their third and last debate. With less than three weeks until Election Day, the 9 p.m. forum at Arizona State University is the only chance left for the candidates to make their cases before a huge national audience. Their first two encounters, the most-watched White House debates since 1992, reached 62.5 million and 47 million viewers, respectively, according to Neilsen Media Research.

Washington.--Even for George Bush, the president's delivery on a speech to a group of businessmen the other day was remarkably bad. He stumbled over words, lost his place and registered so little enthusiasm he seemed bored with his own remarks.It must have been at least the hundredth time Mr. Bush had made the argument for cutting the federal tax on capital gains, a 1988 campaign relic he refuses to abandon although its chances of enactment have diminished to the point that Democratic congressional leaders relish the prospect of killing it. His listlessness was palpable.

WASHINGTON - For the first time since the Vietnam era, voters consider terrorism, war and foreign policy the most pressing issues facing the country, and they do so by a large margin, a development with strong implications for the presidential election. Forty-one percent of voters believe national security and foreign policy are most important, according to a poll released yesterday by the Council on Foreign Relations and the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. In contrast, 26 percent of those questioned said the economy was the most important concern, and 26 percent cited other domestic issues.

WASHINGTON - For the first time since the Vietnam era, voters consider terrorism, war and foreign policy the most pressing issues facing the country, and they do so by a large margin, a development with strong implications for the presidential election. Forty-one percent of voters believe national security and foreign policy are most important, according to a poll released yesterday by the Council on Foreign Relations and the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. In contrast, 26 percent of those questioned said the economy was the most important concern, and 26 percent cited other domestic issues.

WHEN TROUBLES beset America, we turn to our president for guidance. Today we have a president whose greatest political strength is his innate ability to lead during crises. So why, given the morale-sinking events of the past two months, had President Bush not stepped forward until this week in a very public way to reassure the country that everything will be OK? With the exception of tax cuts, Mr. Bush has proved ineffective at rallying the country on domestic issues. But on foreign policy, he has shined.