Kerry accuses Bush of "right-wing assault"

WASHINGTON — Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., signaled a return to partisan warfare with President Bush yesterday in an e-mail to supporters in which he accused the administration of preparing a "right-wing assault on values and ideals" and called on Democrats to fight back against what he labeled Bush's extreme agenda.

Two weeks after delivering a generous concession speech that called for a lessening of the bitter partisanship that had marked the contest with Bush, Kerry picked up where the campaign left off and demonstrated his determination to be the leader of the opposition.

"Despite the words of cooperation and moderate-sounding promises, this administration is planning a right-wing assault on values and ideals we hold most deeply," Kerry said in the e-mail, sent to about 3 million supporters who had signed up on Kerry's Web site during the campaign.

Kerry accused Bush of moving to eliminate debate and dissent from the State Department and CIA. He also charged that Bush's Cabinet was being remade "to rubber-stamp policies that will undermine Social Security, balloon the deficit, avoid real reforms in health care and education, weaken homeland security and walk away from critical allies around the world."

The Massachusetts senator promised to introduce legislation to provide health care to every child — a scaled-back version of his campaign plan for expanded access to health-care coverage — when the Senate convenes next year.

Kerry's decision to challenge Bush so directly suggested he hopes to return to the Senate as a much more aggressive and forceful legislator than he was in the years before he ran for president.

He told supporters the Bush administration is hoping the opposition will disappear in the aftermath of the election. Kerry said his message marks "the beginning of a second-term effort to hold the Bush administration accountable."