President Bush yesterday lashed out at his Democratic opponents for the first time in the 2004 campaign, charging his challengers with espousing "old bitterness and partisan anger" to mask their record of raising taxes and endangering Americans with a weak national defense. After abstaining from politics for months as Democrats attacked him throughout their primary season, the president took aim at presidential front-runner John Kerry, branding the Massachusetts senator an equivocator who changes course for political expediency. "The other party's nomination battle is still playing out. The candidates are an interesting group, with diverse opinions. For tax cuts, and against them. For NAFTA, and against NAFTA. For the Patriot Act, and against the Patriot Act. In favor of liberating Iraq, and opposed to it. "And that's just one senator from Massachusetts," Mr. Bush said, drawing raucous applause and whoops of appreciation from 1,500 supporters at the Republican Governors Association fund-raiser last night at the Washington Convention Center.
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