(Washington) Less than 24 hours after John Kerry officially became the nominee of the Democratic Party and called for a campaign of ideals rather than the wedge issue of gay marriage President Bush was on the campaign trail assailing "activist judges".

In a stump speech in Springfield Missouri Bush told GOP supporters that "Our conviction that every life matters and every life counts will not change. Our belief in liberty and opportunity and the non-negotiable demands of human dignity will not change."

"We stand for institutions like marriage and family, which are the foundations of society. We stand for a culture of life in which every person matters and every person counts. We stand for judges who strictly and faithfully interpret the law, instead of legislating from the bench. And we will work together to build a culture of responsibility. The culture of this country is changing from one that has said, if it feels good, just go ahead and do it, and, if you've got a problem, blame somebody else, to a culture in which each of us understands that we're responsible for the decisions we make in life.

Last night in his acceptance speech in Boston, Kerry called on Bush to abandon attacks on gay families. (story)

"In the weeks ahead, let's be optimists, not just opponents," Kerry said. "Let's build unity in the American family, not angry division. Let's honor this nation's diversity; let's respect one another; and let's never misuse for political purposes the most precious document in American history, the Constitution of the United States."

GOP sources say the President has no intention of dropping the marriage issue believing his call for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage is resonating with voters.

Earlier this month Republicans forced a Senate vote on the proposed amendment, only to see it fail partly due to infighting among Republicans. (story)

A House vote on the amendment is likely this fall just before the election. Last week, the House voted to prevented judges from ruling on challenges to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. (story)

http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/07/073004bushJudges.htm

See now if i were Kerry i would have kept my mouth shut and let him [Bush] fuck the election up.

As it happens though it looks like he is going to do that anyway

Regards,

Lee