Kerry Blasts Bush's N Korea Policy at Campaign Stop for Jack Carter in Nevada

More news of John Kerry on the road... Today Kerry was in Nevada to endorse and campaign for Jack Carter for Senate. Jack Carter, son of Jimmy Carter, is running against Republican incumbent Sen. John Ensign. Ensign is your atypical Bush rubber-stamper -- it's time for Nevada to give Ensign the boot.

Kerry took time out on the campaign trail to blast Bush's "failed policies" on North Korea, saying that Monday's nuclear test in North Korea is yet more evidence Bush's failures. Kerry called for the U.S. to engage in direct talks with Pyongyang.

"The president attacks the place that has no weapons of mass destruction and does nothing about the place that does," Kerry told reporters at a campaign stop for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jack Carter. "For five years, I have been calling for the United States to engage in direct talk with North Korea. ... Instead, for five years this administration has ignored them. They fundamentally left this to other people."

Kerry made the comments one day after North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a nuclear device.

The Bush administration has been trying for years to get engage more countries in its anti-proliferation efforts, aimed at stopping nations such as North Korea from developing and selling nuclear weaponry and missiles. But it has refused one of North Korea's key demands: that the United States engage in one-on-one talks. Instead the administration pushed for a so-called six-party format, in which Russia, China, South Korea and Japan would join in the discussions.

"The six-party talks are a cover for the administration to avoid direct discussion," Kerry said.

While in Nevada, Kerry visited the Nevada State Veterans Home in Boulder City with Jack Carter's wife Elizabeth and their daughter Sarah. Sarah is running the campaign blog on CarterforNevada.com -- check it and give Jack Carter some support!

Speaking to a group of veterans a group of vets "gathered around crowded tables and chairs," John Kerry "stressed that electing Jack Carter to the U.S. Senate was important for veterans everywhere."

Kerry said Carter believed that providing health care for America's heroes is more important that giving more tax breaks to millionaires.

Elizabeth Carter spoke briefly, and then she and Kerry went table to table talking with the veterans. Robert Hudson, a 1970-76 Vietnam army veteran originally from Michigan, thanked Kerry for coming and for supporting more funding for the VA.

“We need leadership in Washington who understands that VA funding is critical for those who gave so much for there country,” Hudson said. Hudson also told Kerry he was looking for real leadership in Washington to change the course in Iraq.

There's more about Kerry on the road for Jack Carter on Johnkerry.com.

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