John Effin’ Kerry continues to drag American political discourse into the gutter: Kerry Comment Riles Bush Campaign.

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry called Wednesday for deeper tax cuts for the middle class than proposed by President Bush and described his Republican critics as “the most crooked … lying group I’ve ever seen.” The chairman of Bush’s re-election campaign called on Kerry to apologize “for this negative attack.”

What this text excerpt doesn’t convey: Kerry’s smarmy conspiratorial tone, recorded inadvertently by a reporter’s microphone.

The AP’s spin is interesting, as well—“his Republican critics?” If you hear the full sound clip, Kerry mentions nothing about “critics.” This is an unabashed invention by the AP reporter, doing some advance work to prepare the ground for the Kerry campaign’s denials and/or apologies.

Kerry was obviously referring to President Bush and his advisers. My distaste for this phony populist grows by leaps and bounds.