Bush, Kerry spar over economy’s health

[Skeptical Democrat]

Bush, Kerry spar over economy’s health

President highlights strong jobs report; Kerry looks at weak spot

The Associated Press
Updated: 11:07 a.m. ET April 03, 2004

WASHINGTON - President Bush sought Saturday to squeeze more political mileage out of news that American employers added the most workers in four years, while Democratic rival John Kerry chose to highlight the still-flat manufacturing sector and blame it on Bush.

The incumbent president running for re-election and the Massachusetts senator who wants to replace him went head-to-head on the jobs issue, each via the traditional weekly radio address for their parties.

Top concern
Polls consistently show that jobs and the economy are voters’ top concerns and that a majority favor Kerry on those issues. With nearly 2 million jobs lost since Bush took office in 2001, Democrats eager for an area where the president is politically vulnerable have hammered him for months for having the worst job-creation record since the Depression.

As a result, Bush reveled for a second day in a Labor Department report showing the nation’s employers swelled payrolls by 308,000 in March. He also gave the figures top billing during an appearance Friday in West Virginia — one of the many politically key industrial states where job losses are an especially sensitive issue.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4652978/