Kerry takes up Urban League offer to debate with president

DETROIT — John Kerry appeared before the National Urban League here yesterday and agreed to a debate with President Bush sponsored by the civil rights organization.

“The issues we’re grappling with today are especially important and I’m happy to discuss them anywhere, any time, with any American,” Mr. Kerry said.

The offer, which will be extended to Mr. Bush when he addresses the largely black group today, could cause some political anxiety for the president, who polls poorly among blacks and just last week declined to speak before the NAACP convention because he considers the group too partisan.

Scott Stanzel, spokesman for the Bush campaign, said they “look forward to a vigorous debate on the issues,” but declined to commit to any specific date or forum.

Former Clinton advisor Vernon Jordan, who headed the Urban League during the 1970s, introduced Mr. Kerry and hinted at last week’s controversy involving Mr. Bush and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

As president of the Urban League — which, like the NAACP, is a non-profit organization that could lose its tax-exempt status if it engages in partisan politics — Mr. Jordan said he sometimes felt “enslaved” by those tax rules.

But now, no longer officially associated with the group, he felt “emancipated” and could freely share his political views.

“Free at last, free at last,” he said to cheers and applause.

Mr. Jordan then employed his freedom.

“I have been around long enough to know a failed presidency when I see one,” Mr. Jordan said before welcoming Mr. Kerry to the stage.

Mr. Kerry, who has constantly said Mr. Bush has failed as president, took the unusual step yesterday of acknowledging areas of improvement that Mr. Bush has talked about for years.

“I know that great things are happening across America to strengthen families, lift up communities and bring opportunity and hope to our young people. Some of these efforts are faith-based,” he said, referring to the vehicle that Mr. Bush has long argued be the primary engine behind programs for the needy.

“But for every good thing we’re doing there are millions more in need who are not being reached,” he said.

Mr. Kerry also nodded to successes in extending home ownership to low-income Americans and minorities, a cornerstone of Mr. Bush’s vision for boosting those segments of the population.

“Yes, it is true, since the 1990s, home ownership has gone up in America as a whole,” Mr. Kerry said. “And that’s a good thing.”

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