Today in Washington, John Kerry had some tough words on Bush's call for $87 billion for Iraq, and the need for a leader with experience in foreign policy...

I'm not going to vote for an open-ended ticket," Kerry told The Associated Press. He said Bush should get more foreign troops into Iraq and use oil revenues to help pay for reconstruction before Americans are forced to foot the bill. Kerry said the United States cannot abandon the Persian Gulf nation.

In a wide-ranging interview, the Massachusetts senator said Democratic rival Howard Dean, a former governor of Vermont, lacks foreign policy experience in a post-Sept. 11 period that demands it.

"We've seen governors come to Washington who don't have the experience with Washington and they get in trouble real fast. And they don't have the experience in foreign policy, and they get in trouble pretty fast," Kerry said. "Look at Ronald Reagan. Look at Jimmy Carter and now, obviously, George Bush."

On foreign and domestic policy, Kerry said, "We've got to have somebody who knows how to pull the levers of this city and get something done."

Kerry, fielding questions from AP reporters and editors for more than an hour, condemned Bush's policies on North Korea, the Middle East, homeland security, the environment and taxes. While shrugging off his own political problems, Kerry criticized Dean and fellow Democratic candidate Dick Gephardt for seeking to repeal Bush-backed tax cuts for the middle class.

Kerry waded into the California recall fight — he'll campaign for embattled Gov. Gray Davis later this month...

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We'll be seeing John Kerry in Los Angeles and San Francisco next week!