White House hopeful Mr John Kerry said today Democrats had George W. Bush "on the run" and had forced the Republican president to start his re-election campaign even before he knew who his opponent would be.
In a kind of pre-emptive strike, the Democratic front-runner criticized in advance a speech Bush plans to give tonight to the Republican Governors Association. It will lay out many of the themes to be debated over the next eight months.
Mr Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, also acknowledged the race for the Democratic presidential nomination is not over despite his 15 victories in 17 primaries and caucuses so far.
North Carolina Senator Mr John Edwards, who finished second in Wisconsin last week, has mounted an all-out effort to cut into Mr Kerry's lead when 10 states, including New York, California and Ohio, hold contests on March 2nd.
But Mr Kerry remains the favorite with money, momentum and about one quarter of the 2,162 delegates needed to win the nomination and face Mr Bush on November 2nd.
"Tonight George Bush ... is going to stand up and lay out his vision for the country," Mr Kerry told a rally at Harlem's Alhambra Ballroom. "And I think it's interesting that we have George Bush on the run because he has to go out and start this campaign officially tonight before we even have a nominee of the Democratic party."
Mr Kerry called it "extraordinary" that Mr Bush was finally laying out a vision after more than three years in office.
Citing record federal deficits, three million lost private sector jobs and a president who had refused to meet with black groups like the Leadership Council on Civil Rights or the National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Kerry said: "I believe what he will do tonight is to run away from his own record because he doesn't have a record to run on."