Bush backer: Kerry would emulate France

AFP, August, 2004

PORTLAND, United States (AFP) — On the same day that US President George W. Bush made perhaps his strongest defense of French foreign policy, a top backer derided Democratic White House hopeful John Kerry for wanting the United States to "act like the French."

"I've often said it's not John Kerry's fault that he looks French, but it is his fault that he wants to pursue policies that have us act like the French," Republican Senator Gordon Smith of Oregon said Thursday.

"He advocates all kinds of additional socialism at home, appeasement abroad, and what that means is weakness for the future," Smith told reporters on a conference call organized by Bush's reelection campaign.

But in an hour-long interview with CNN television, Bush took a different tack as he...