Democratic Sen. John Kerry says the man who beat him in the 2004 presidential election, Republican President George W. Bush, has blundered badly while in office.

"Every mistake in the book that could be made, this administration has made," the senator from Massachusetts said Friday at South Carolina State University.

As a result, Iraq is embroiled in a "civil war," North Korea has enlarged its nuclear weapon capability and America has seen the return of a "segregated school system," Kerry said.

"Ask any American when we were safer. We were safer under Clinton. This president (Bush) has made America less secure," Kerry declared.

Kerry was the keynote speaker at a get-out-the-vote rally sponsored by the university's Young Democrats Club.

Present at the event was the Rev. David Alston, who served with Kerry on a swiftboat during the Vietnam War.

"He can tell you that we actually were in Vietnam," Kerry said wryly, referring to opponents' attacks during the last presidential election.

"We thought the truth was out there, and we relied on Americans and their good judgment to see it. But when you're putting millions of dollars behind lies, it has impact," he said, calling it a "lesson learned."

Standing on the edge of the stage in the Barbara A. Vaughan Recital Hall in the Fine Arts Building, Kerry opened his presentation with a television talk-show style monologue:

* "South Carolina State was founded in 1896, which means it's actually older than Strom Thurmond," he quipped.

* "It's a very exciting day for the Republican Party: No Republican congressman was indicted today."

* "It's been about seven months, and Dick Cheney hasn't shot anybody."

* "The president was on ABC-TV doing an interview with (George) Stephanopolous. He compared Iraq to Vietnam. How the hell does he know?"

* "You guys are great. (In the 2004 campaign) you worked your hearts out and gave money you didn't have. You knocked on doors and you worked unbelievably hard, and I can't thank you enough for that. You did everything except move to Ohio."

Then he turned serious.

"We've got a little less than two weeks, and there's an amazing seriousness that has set into America. You're here today but not enough people have tuned in to what's going on.

"This administration says there's no civil war in Iraq. That's a lie. Every expert will tell you there's a civil war. You can see it on television yourself every day," Kerry said.

"They say that the Johns Hopkins study (of deaths resulting from the war) is phony. That's a lie," Kerry continued.

"Our troops are the best trained and most capable," Kerry said. Yet the American military has been in Iraq for longer than it took them to win World War II, Kerry said.

Islam is a peaceful religion, Kerry said, but violent radical Islamists pose "an enormous challenge to our nation" and "for us to meet this challenge, you have to get it right."

America is not going to win the hearts and minds of the Arab street "if you have Guantanamos and Abu Ghraibs and if you're arguing in America over whether or not you ought to be torturing" prisoners, Kerry said.

"You tell me, what are our troops supposed to do? Find every improvised explosive device there is, the hard way?" he asked. "They deserve civilian leadership that is as good and as honest as they are."

Kerry expanded on his comments in a later interview with The T&D.

"Even today, our own military people, on the front pages of the newspapers, are saying this is the worst they've seen and we've got to change course," he said.

"I guarantee you: After this election, there's going to be a shift in what's happening in Iraq. There has to be.

"Our troops are locked in a civil war, and we didn't send them there to be in a civil war. I think Congress has got to start looking at holding this administration accountable.

"I want to win the war on terror. I want to fight it smarter, and the way you fight it smarter is by not being bogged down in Iraq. Afghanistan is the center of the war on terror, and that's where we ought to be putting the focus."

When a Charleston television reporter asked Kerry if he would be a candidate for president in 2008, he replied, "I'm going to make a decision after the '06 elections, when I've had a chance to sit down with my family and see how we do in '06."

One person who hopes he will run is Orlando White, a Denmark resident and Orangeburg businessman.

"I hope he's successful this time around," White said.

Kerry already was successful in convincing one audience member to take part in the Nov. 7 balloting.

Before, "I wasn't sure if I was, but I know now, I'm going to go and vote," said Philip Burt of Sumter, a freshman at S.C. State.

Aaron Haire of Orangeburg, a sophomore biology major at S.C. State, said Kerry "hit on everything the general community really is concerned about, what people are thinking but have not necessarily brought forward and said."

"I'm glad he hit on the point about education (being) the key to success and the key to your future" and the problem of inequalities in education funding, said Haire, who is the son of City Councilman Bernard Haire.

Ulysses S. Jarvis Jr. of Orangeburg said, "It gives the college students a different view, I think, to meet political leaders in person rather than on television."

"I think it's nice that he came to Orangeburg," Jarvis continued. "Orangeburg is one of the Democratic strongholds in South Carolina. He would be very remiss if he comes to South Carolina and doesn't come to Orangeburg."

During his speech, Kerry acknowledged his friend, state Rep. Jerry Govan, D-Orangeburg, who played a key role in arranging Kerry's appearance. He also acknowledged U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn's chief of staff in the audience. Clyburn was in Florida, stumping for fellow Democrats, Kerry said.

Kerry acknowledged platform guest Cheryl Footman, an Orangeburg resident and the party's candidate for S.C. secretary of state. "We know from Florida and Ohio that secretaries of state matter," he said.

As a Democratic stronghold in a state with early primaries by both parties, "Orangeburg is center stage" for presidential aspirants, said Govan, who added that it's still much too early for him to endorse Kerry or anyone else for president in 2008.

Kerry's visit follows one by Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, who later decided not to run for president, and it comes a week before another likely hopeful, Sen. Christopher Dodd, is scheduled to visit Orangeburg.

Like many prominent Democrats who visit Orangeburg, Kerry found a friendly and enthusiastic audience. Despite a tight schedule, he lingered to pose for snapshots with admirers and even squeezed in a handful of individual private conversations.

Just before his mini-motorcade pulled away, a smiling Kerry signaled his satisfaction about his visit here by giving Govan a hearty thumbs-up.

T&D Staff Writer Lee Hendren can be reached by e-mail at lhendren@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5552. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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