College leader disappointed by Cheney [View All]

[JoFerret]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4024498,00.html

FULTON, Mo. (AP) - Westminster College's president said Monday he was so ``surprised and disappointed'' by Vice President Dick Cheney's attacks on John Kerry during a speech that he is inviting the Democrat to visit for a reply.

Fletcher Lamkin told The Associated Press that Cheney's staff approached him last week about using Westminster as the backdrop ``for a major foreign policy address. Nothing was said about a stump speech.''

In a campus-wide e-mail after the speech, Lamkin said: ``I must admit that I was surprised and disappointed that Mr. Cheney chose to step off the high ground and resort to Kerry-bashing for a large portion of his speech.''

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Standing in the campus gymnasium where Winston Churchill warned in 1946 of an ``Iron Curtain'' descending across postwar Europe, Cheney sharply criticized Kerry's Senate votes on defense and intelligence legislation.

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Lamkin, who described himself as a split-ticket voter, said he tends to be a bit on the conservative side because of his military background. He is a former administrator at West Point.

``I'm pretty independent,'' Lamkin said. ``I can't tell you I am for one or the other, I'm not. As a college president, I try to remain someone who has all viewpoints represented on the campus fairly and equally.''

Lamkin said he was not expecting a speech minus any mention of presidential politics during an election year, but that the second half ``was all about politics and a political stump speech and in that respect it was disappointing.''

In the e-mail, Lamkin said that ``in the interest of balance and fairness and integrity, we will strongly encourage Senator Kerry to take advantage of this venue to make his views known as well.''

Kerry spokesman Bill Burton said the campaign had received Lamkin's e-mail and would consider a visit to Westminster, which is located in the center of a presidential battleground state.