Kennedy accuses Bush of divisive policies

Sen Edward Kennedy, the leading liberal voice in Congress, marked the midway point of President George W Bush's first term on Tuesday by accusing the administration of dividing America on matters from Iraq to civil rights.

With war looming and the economy ailing, the Massachusetts Democrat said the United States "must renew our sense of common purpose" at home and abroad. But Bush, he said, had driven Americans and their allies apart, citing the war on terrorism, Iraq, North Korea, education, health care and civil rights.

"Surely we can have effective relationships with other nations without adopting a chip-on-the shoulder foreign policy," Kennedy said in a speech at the National Press Club.

"From World War II through the Cold War to the Gulf War, from Franklin Roosevelt to the first George Bush, we prevailed by building great coalitions for defense and democracy," said Kennedy.

"Today we are far from that standard," Kennedy said. "Our standing and support among the peoples of Europe and in other lands abroad is at or near the lowest point in a half century."

While other top Democrats, particularly those challenging Bush for the White House, have denounced the president on a variety of fronts, Kennedy, 70, a senior member of the Senate where he has served 40 years, delivered perhaps the most comprehensive condemnation of his foreign and domestic policies.

"Both at home and overseas, we need policies that unite, not divide," Kennedy said.

During a question-and-answer period, Kennedy said, "I expect to support" Sen. John Kerry, a fellow Massachusetts Democrat, for their party's 2004 presidential nomination.

"I expect him to win," Kennedy said, adding Kerry had done "a great job" addressing many of these same issues.

Ripping into the administration for challenging the use of race in university admissions, Kennedy said: "An administration that takes such a course, whether out of conviction or political calculation, is no friend of minorities and no force for civil rights."