[originaltext] In U. S. presidential politics, the Bush and Kerry campaigns e

In U. S. presidential politics, the Bush and Kerry campaigns exchanged attacks Monday over the issue of national security. Vice President Dick Cheney questioned presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry% record on defend, while the head of the Democratic Party fired back at the vice president.
   In a speech in Missouri, Vice President Cheney said Senator Kerry had a habit of supporting cuts in the defense and intelligence budgets, including weapons programs that are now essential in the war on terrorism.
   "In his years in Washington, Senator Kerry has been one vote out of 100 in the United States Senate and fortunately on matters of national security, he was usually in the minority," he said. "But the presidency is an entirely different proposition. The president always casts the. deciding vote and the senator from Massachusetts has given us ample grounds to doubt the judgment and attitude he brings to hear on vital issues of national security."
   The Bush re-election campaign also began running a series of new television advertisements that seeks to draw attention to the Kerry record on defense.