Spinmeister Defends Kerry for Using Profanity

A spokeswoman for lagging Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry said Sunday that it was appropriate for her boss to use the "F"-word in reference to President Bush's handling of the Iraq war, because he'd served in Vietnam and Bush hadn't.

"John Kerry saw combat up close, and he doesn't mince words when it comes to politicians who put ideological recklessness ahead of American troops," Kerry press aide Stephanie Cutter told The Associated Press.

In an interview in this month's issue of Rolling Stone, the Massachusetts Democrat complains about Bush's Iraq war policy. "When I voted for the war, I voted for what I thought was best for the country," Kerry said. "Did I expect George Bush to f--- it up as badly as he did? I don't think anybody did."

On Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said the candidate's gutter language was "beneath John Kerry."

"I'm very disappointed that he would use that kind of language," Card told CNN's "Late Edition." "I'm hoping that he's apologizing at least to himself, because that's not the John Kerry that I know."

Brookings Institution presidential scholar Stephen Hess agreed, telling the New York Post on Saturday, "I think John Kerry is going to regret saying this."

But Kerry spokeswoman Cutter told the AP that her boss had nothing to regret. "I think the American people would rather Card and the rest of the White House staff spend more time on fixing Bush's flawed policy in Iraq than on Sen. Kerry's language."

The episode isn't the first time the Kerry campaign has used the "F"-word to refer to Bush. At a September fund raiser, techno-rocker Moby, who backs the Massachusetts Democrat and was on hand to supply the evening's entertainment, called President Bush "an evil f---."

Kerry, who was reportedly standing within earshot, did nothing to reprimand the singer and later declined to apologize to the White House.

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