US: Former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry cancelled campaign appearances yesterday amid a storm over what he called a "botched joke" about soldiers in Iraq.
Republicans, including President George Bush and Senator John McCain, have demanded that Mr Kerry apologise for telling a group of college students if they did not study hard, they could "get stuck in Iraq".
Mr Kerry insisted yesterday that he had meant to make a joke about Mr Bush but had bungled its delivery.
"I said it was a botched joke. Of course, I'm sorry about a botched joke," Mr Kerry told radio talk show host Don Imus.
While campaigning in California on Monday, Mr Kerry told students at a Pasadena college: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
Mr McCain said Mr Kerry owed an apology to "the many thousands of Americans serving in Iraq, who answered their country's call because they are patriots and not because of any deficiencies in their education".
Some Democratic candidates yesterday joined calls for Mr Kerry to apologise to US soldiers in Iraq for his remarks.
"Whatever the intent, Senator Kerry was wrong to say what he said," said Congressman Harold Ford, who is running for the Senate in Tennessee.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton described Mr Kerry's remarks as "inappropriate".
Campaigning in Montana, the vice-president, Dick Cheney, sneered at Mr Kerry's claim that his statement was no more than a botched joke.
"I guess we didn't get the nuance. He was for the joke before he was against it. As a leading Democratic senator, John Kerry needs to learn that the men and women serving in Iraq aren't there because they didn't study hard or do their homework," he said.
In fact, US service personnel are better-educated than the average civilian their age. More than 99 per cent of service personnel have a high school diploma, compared to about 88 per cent of the broader population.
Mr Kerry's office yesterday released the text of the senator's prepared remarks at the event, which began with a series of one-liners.
Mr Kerry's office said he intended to say: "Do you know where you end up if you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush."
The storm over Mr Kerry's remarks comes as new opinion polls point to Republicans losing control of the House of Representatives in next Tuesday's elections.
The Republicans are also expected to lose seats in the Senate but most pollsters predict that the party will hold on to its majority there.
A Reuters/Zogby poll published yesterday put Democrats ahead in 12 of 15 key races for House seats currently held by Republicans.
The extent of Republican losses could depend on turnout, and the row over Mr Kerry could galvanise Republican supporters and encourage them to vote.
White House press secretary Tony Snow devoted much of his daily briefing yesterday to urging Mr Kerry to apologise for remarks he claimed were deeply insulting to US forces serving in Iraq.
"Senator Kerry may have botched the line, but what he said was insulting to the troops, and what he ought to say is: 'Look, I botched the line, but I'm sorry for giving offence'," said Mr Snow.