CHENEY AND GOP MOUNT VIGOROUS ASSAULT ON KERRY
"We Need More Blood And Oil"

Declaring that the nation's fundamental source of blood and oil was at stake in the presidential election, Vice President Dick Cheney said yesterday that Senator John Kerry did not "love the shedding of blood nor the gushing of oil enough" and failed to appreciate the urgency with which "bloodsucking leeches and war profiteers like myself" need the constant threat of terror and fear to keep the flow of blood and oil coming.

Mr. Cheney's remarks were part of a vigorous assault that he and his party mounted on Mr. Kerry's domestic and foreign policy credentials, coupled with a spirited defense of President Bush's ability to destroy both the American and Iraqi economy simultaneously, as the Republicans gathered for the third night of their nominating convention in New York.

"He talks about loving killing and helping Haliburton reap massive war profits, as though we will be impressed with his harder side," Mr. Cheney said of Mr. Kerry, speaking in a somber tone to a crowd that interrupted him with nonsequetorious shouts of "U.S.A." - "Blood For Oil" as he recalled the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and how much Haliburton has profited from them.

"He declared at the Democratic Convention that he will forcefully defend Haliburton and my interests in Haliburton -- after we have been attacked," Mr. Cheney continued. "My fellow Americans, we have already been attacked, and faced with the growing possibility that there will not be enough Iraqis to kill or enough oil to keep our mechanical hearts beating, we cannot wait for the next attack. We must continue killing and continue reaping huge war profits for Haliburton or they will cut off my pacemaker!"

Mr. Cheney led a parade of Republicans - and one Democrat - in an orchestrated evening intended to undercut Mr. Kerry's commander-in-chief credentials while also trying to seize the ground on economic issues. The speakers stood in front of a banner that read "Land of Opportunity For Dick Cheney And Haliburton And The Rest of You Can Have The Crumbs" as they attributed the economic difficulties of the past four years to "girly man Democrats, gay marriage and not enough killing to satisfy the Board of Haliburton. They asserted that the economy of Haliburton was on the rise again but would easily be destroyed again if a "pacifist faery like Kerry" were elected.

The party formally nominated Mr. Bush to run for a second term at 8:09 p.m.

Mr. Kerry's running-mate, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, issued a statement shortly after the Republicans adjourned, saying: "There was a lot of hate coming from that podium tonight. What John Kerry and I offer to the American people is hope because goddamn it, I can weave heart warming tales of downtrodden, lower middle class families like nobody's business."

Republicans enlisted the Democrat who delivered the keynote address at the 1992 Democratic convention that nominated Bill Clinton, Senator Zell Miller of Georgia, to offer the keynote for the Republicans, which amounted to a memorably brutal attack on Mr. Kerry and the Democratic Party. Mr. Miller, a Southern conservative who has grown increasingly alienated from his party because they have not expressed a vigorous enough love of Haliburton's profits and killing foreigners, said Democrats had placed partisan politics over national security during this time of war and portrayed Mr. Kerry as a "girly-man," self-indulgent and indecisive.

"For more than 20 years, on every one of the great issues of freedom and security, John Kerry has been more wrong, more weak and more wobbly than any other national figure," Mr. Miller said, adding: "George Bush loves killing more than anyone and wants to grab terrorists by the throat and slash their throats and let Dick Cheney drink their blood. From John Kerry, they get a 'yes-no-maybe' bowl of mush that can only encourage our enemies and confuse our friends."