Kerry cancels plans to appear

WASHINGTON — Sen. John F. Kerry Wednesday canceled his remaining campaign appearances under heavy fire from Republicans — and kept at arm's length by some Democrats — over his comments that underachieving students would end up "stuck in Iraq."

The senator released a statement Wednesday saying, "I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended."

The Massachusetts Democrat and the party's 2004 presidential nominee did not make planned appearances Wednesday in Pennsylvania and Minnesota, and will not make stops today in Iowa and Sunday in New Hampshire, saying he does not want to be a distraction to Democratic candidates. Bruce Braley, campaigning to represent Iowa in the House, told Kerry's camp that he did not want the senator by his side.

Pressured by Republicans and some Democrats to apologize, Kerry abandoned the defiant stance he took on Tuesday, when he accused Republicans of twisting his words. He told radio host Don Imus he was "sorry about a botched joke" and called what he said "stupid."

In the statement released later in the day, he said, "As a combat veteran, I want to make it clear to anyone in uniform and to their loved ones: my poorly stated joke at a rally was not about, and never intended to refer to, any troop. I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended."

Kerry said he has sidelined himself to keep the political focus on President Bush's Iraq war policies.

"I'm not going to go to some place that a congressman's going to get embroiled in this, because I want them to win," Kerry said shortly before flying to Washington from Minnesota. "But I want the real issues to be the real issues. And I'm just not going to let 'the Republicans' lie."

Aides said the senator has not decided whether he will attend campaign events in Massachusetts before the election. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deval L. Patrick, asked during Wednesday night's debate by host Cokie Roberts about Kerry's comments, said, "I think he knows it was a dumb comment and has said so."

His campaign did not answer questions Wednesday about whether Kerry is welcome on the stump.

On Monday, at a rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides in Pasadena, Calif., Kerry said: "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. And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."