ITTSBURGH - A would-be vice president is campaigning hard for the man who passed him over for running mate, as US Senator John F. Kerry pushes Al Gore for president while lending his veteran's voice to criticism of George W. Bush's war record.
Late Saturday, during a boisterous rally of several thousand outside a union hall, the Massachusetts Democrat seized on reports in the Globe that Bush had stopped flying after 22 months with his Texas Air National Guard squadron.
There are also no records to show that the Republican nominee, who claims five years of military service on his campaign Web site, reported for duty during a six-month stay in Alabama, where he worked on a Senate campaign. In addition, he had lax attendance after returning to Houston.
Kerry, a decorated Navy veteran of Vietnam, said Bush should be scrutinized because he ends every speech by raising his hand, taking a mock oath of office, and pledging to restore honor and integrity to the White House.
''How is it that someone who's supposedly serving on active duty, having supposedly taken that oath, can miss a whole year of service without explaining where it went?'' Kerry asked the crowd.
Turning to the present, he added: ''Today he's a part-time governor with a Legislature that's part-time in a state with full-time problems, and he's been there for five years. There isn't anyone in this country who doesn't understand that when you're talking about the leader of the free world, and you're talking about the world's expectations, you want someone with Al Gore's experience and vision and capacity to take this nation to the great heights that he's described in the course of this campaign.''
While sharp, Kerry's comments were more subdued than those made by another speaker, US Senator Bob Kerrey, who is retiring from politics. The Nebraska Democrat, who received a Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in Vietnam, blasted Bush's service record. He also said the governor failed his self-prescribed standards of character because he tried to hide his 1976 arrest for drunken driving.
''He said he didn't want to tell you the truth because `I was concerned about my daughters,''' said Kerrey. ''Governor, you remind me of that old song of Willie Nelson's: `Who you gonna believe, you gonna believe me or your lyin' eyes?' Governor, we're going to believe our eyes. You're covering your rear end.''
Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett said the attacks ''stood in stark contrast'' to the tone the governor hopes to bring to Washington.
''I think this is a sad development in the final hours of this campaign, that the Gore campaign feels compelled to attack Governor Bush in a very harsh and personal way,'' Bartlett said.
''It's a clear indication they feel this election slipping away.''
Gore's support from Kerry comes less than three months after he passed over his former Senate colleague from Massachusetts to select US Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut as his running mate. Kerry later admitted feeling let down, but he promised to campaign for the Democratic ticket - even as he considered his own run for the presidency in 2004 should Gore and Lieberman lose.
In recent weeks, Kerry has campaigned for the nominee and various House and Senate candidates from New York to Minnesota. Today he is in California, and tomorrow, Election Day, he will be in Seattle and Portland, Ore.
In an interview after his speech, Kerry said he's on the stump because ''the vice president does a terrific job, but he can't be everywhere.'' Asked if he harbored any ill feelings from being passed over, he said: ''I'm way beyond that at this point. That's a distant memory and a distant happening at this point. I'm actively and deeply involved in the campaign.''
The rally featured music from James Taylor, comedy from Al Franken, and a political speech by actress Morgan Fairchild.
