The presidential election is eight days away, polls are too close to call and the big guns — in the form of political stars and harsh accusations — are being dragged out for the final push before Election Day.
Kerry Meets With Some, Not All, U.N. Security Council Members
A spokesman for John Kerry refuted claims that the Democratic presidential nominee and Massachusetts senator never met with U.N. Security Council (search) members before Congress' vote on whether to authorize war in Iraq.
"It's a fact that on Sept. 30, 2002, before the vote on the Iraq resolution, John Kerry went to the United Nations and met with representatives of the Security Council. He went there to determine whether other nations would stand with the United States in renewed efforts to hold Saddam accountable," said Kerry spokesman David Wade, who added that Bush pushed allies aside and rushed to war without a plan to win the peace.
The Washington Times reported in Monday editions that Kerry on at least two occasions had claimed to meet with the members of the Security Council in order to find out if the United States had support for war in Iraq. Kerry last recounted the meeting during the second presidential debate.
"I went to meet with the members of the Security Council in the week before we voted. I went to New York. I talked to all of them, to find out how serious they were about really holding Saddam Hussein accountable," Kerry said in the debate of his discussions with U.N. ambassadors.
But the Washington Times reports that four of the five ambassadors they contacted who were on the Security Council at the time said they never met Kerry.
Sources familiar with the meeting told FOX News that the discussion was among Kerry and four of the 15 members of the Council.
Kerry was "there to take the temperature" of the ambassadors, said one source.
"If Kerry voted against the congressional resolution and then the U.N. Security Council subsequently voted for a tough resolution, Kerry would look like a real wimp," said one source, who contends that Kerry was trying to weigh the politics of his upcoming vote.
"He didn't want to be out of sync," said this source. Had Kerry voted against the congressional resolution when it turns out even Syria voted for Security Council Resolution 1441 (search) in November 2002 authorizing the return of weapons inspectors, "he would really have looked ridiculous," the source added.
In the meeting, no questions arose about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and no one in the meeting disputed the widespread belief that Saddam did have weapons. The question of the meeting was how the Security Council should deal with them.
— FOX News' Jim Angle contributed to this report.
Charges Dropped Against Cheney Interloper
Charges were dropped Monday against a woman who walked through an open back door into a private campaign event featuring Vice President Dick Cheney.
Last week, Charlotte Wilkerson (search), 45, was charged with disorderly conduct, obstructing an officer and carrying a concealed weapon. She had entered the back of a restaurant in Charleston, W.Va.
Her attorney, Jason Huber, said no security or signs stopped Wilkerson from entering the restaurant. She was carrying a box cutter in her purse that she uses at her job at a discount store, Huber said. However, he would not comment on whether Wilkerson knew the restaurant was closed for the event.
Neither Mayor Danny Jones or Prosecutor Deloris Martin would discuss why the charges were dropped. Questions were referred to Police Chief Jerry Pauley, who was not immediately available for comment.
Last July, charges were dismissed against a couple arrested when they wore anti-Bush T-shirts to Bush's rally at the West Virginia state capitol complex. A city ordinance did not cover trespassing on state grounds. The Charleston city council later publicly apologized.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Poll Track
The latest Time magazine poll conducted Oct. 19-21 shows Bush leading Kerry among 803 likely voters 51-46 percent with a 4-point margin of error. Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader earned 2 percent. The same poll shows 1,059 registered voters giving Bush a 50-43 lead over Kerry with Nader pulling 4 percent.
A Newsweek magazine poll conducted Oct. 21-22 shows Bush leading Kerry among 880 likely voters 48-46 percent with a 4 point margin of error. Nader earned 1 percent. The same poll shows 1,008 registered voters tieing the two at 46 percent with Nader drawing 2 percent.
Ad Watch
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