Kerry did not offer any new proposals, but he reiterated an economic agenda that includes tax cuts for the middle class and corporations; new government spending to cut health care costs for employers and employees; a huge increase in education spending to train the next generation of workers; and a commitment to reduce the deficit that experts say will be virtually impossible to meet if he follows through on all his proposed programs.
Speaking to a crowd that included many Republicans, Kerry said he is a different kind of Democrat, one who is sensitive to and supportive of businesses. "I am an entrepreneurial Democrat," he said.
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Video: In a speech in Detroit, Sen. John Kerry attacked the Bush administration as the "excuse presidency."
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Video: Sen. John Kerry explains his stance on the Iraq war with MSNBC's Don Imus.
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Transcript: Kerry on MSNBC's 'Imus in the Morning'
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Kerry was introduced by Robert E. Rubin, Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and arguably the most respected big-name Democrat among Wall Street types. "We are on the wrong track on all fronts," Rubin said.
Kerry and Rubin cited a number of economic indicators to buttress their point: 1.6 million jobs lost (the actual number is 1.1 million); 45 million Americans without health coverage, 5 million more than when Bush took office; 4.3 million Americans who have fallen into poverty in the past four years; and falling family incomes.
"President Bush talked about his ownership society," Kerry said. "Well, Mr. President, when it comes to your record, you own it."
Staying on the same message, Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), Kerry's running mate, began a two-day bus tour of economically depressed areas of West Virginia and southeast Ohio, criticizing Bush for being out of touch with unemployed workers.
Speaking to a crowd of 500 at West Virginia University at Parkersburg, Edwards said Bush's policies are hurting the well-being of the poor and of those struggling to stay in or break into the middle class. "They want to make sure they take care of their multimillionaire investment friends," he said. "This is not the way it's supposed to be in this country."
Edwards drew his biggest applause from the audience, which was heavy on union members and laid-off workers, when he responded to a question from a woman who said that her 23-year-old son recently graduated from college, and that she is worried about a draft being instituted for the war in Iraq.
"There will be no draft when John Kerry is president," Edwards said, to applause and a standing ovation.
Staff writer David Snyder in West Virginia contributed to this report.
