Bush Campaign Manager Accuses Kerry of “Environmental Extremism”
Speaking before a crowd in Michigan, Marc Racicot, chair of President Bush’s reelection campaign, characterized Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry as “incredibly environmentally green” and an environmental extremist; it was unclear whether he saw any distinction between the two. Racicot criticized Kerry’s support for a plan to raise the average fuel efficiency of America’s car and light-truck fleet to 36 miles per gallon by 2015. Claiming the plan would cost the nation 450,000 jobs and Michigan alone 105,000 jobs, Racicot said, “Environmental extremism is not something that the people of Michigan are going to support.” Kerry spokesperson Bill Burton dismissed the criticism and pointed out that the state has lost 300,000 jobs since Bush became president. Michigan, home of the Big Three automakers and thousands of autoworkers, is a crucial swing state whose electoral votes went to Al Gore in 2000.
