WASHINGTON, July 19: Democrats expanded their attacks on President George W. Bush’s credibility on Friday, questioning his truthfulness on the economy and saying a flap over Iraqi war evidence raised “fundamental questions” about his leadership.

With Bush on the defensive over his justifications for going to war, and new polls showing storm clouds for the president’s 2004 re-election, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry said Bush has not been straight with Americans on more than just the war.

“On the issue of jobs, and on so many other issues, the problem is not just the wrong direction in which George Bush has led, it is that he has misled us time and time again,” Kerry told workers in a Burlington, Iowa, union hall.

With the jobless rate at a nine-year high, Kerry said it was time for Bush to “tell the truth about America’s economy. It’s time for him to admit his tax cuts aren’t working and change course.”

Democrats have hammered Bush’s credibility since last week’s admission his State of the Union address included an unsubstantiated 16-word passage accusing Baghdad of seeking uranium for a nuclear weapon from Africa.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, one of the most outspoken opponents of the war among the nine Democrats vying to challenge Bush in 2004, held a news conference in Iowa to ask Bush 16 questions — one for each disputed word in the State of the Union address.

“There are now fundamental questions about President Bush’s leadership in taking us to war in Iraq,” Dean said, asking who else at the White House was involved in the decision to use the discredited evidence beyond those identified.

At a taping of an Iowa Public Television show, Dean said the United States went to Iraq under “false pretences.”

“American soldiers died because we weren’t given the right information and our Congress voted to give the president authority to go to Iraq without knowing the facts, and that’s wrong,” he said.

Bush’s approval ratings have slipped since the war. A new CNN/Time poll showed his approval rating dropping to prewar levels at 55 percent, while a Fox News poll showed the number of voters who expect to back Bush in 2004 dropping nine percentage points in the last month to 42 percent.

A new Zogby International poll found Bush’s approval rating slipping to 53 percent and, for the first time, more likely voters say they would vote for someone else than for Bush.

An energized Democratic presidential field has jumped on the State of the Union controversy to attack Bush on a score of issues.

Kerry gave a speech in New York on Wednesday questioning his support for police and firefighters at home, and plans one next week on what he says is Bush’s failure to fully fund the “No Child Left Behind” education bill.

“The credibility gap at the White House over uranium is leading to a fundamental reassessment of Bush’s rhetoric versus reality on a host of issues, from job losses to budget deficits to an education bill that leaves millions of children behind,” said Kerry spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Florida Sen. Bob Graham, campaigning in New Hampshire, questioned why Bush has not expressed displeasure over the inclusion of the uranium charge and has expressed confidence in the integrity of the intelligence process.

“President Bush and the CIA need to stop hiding and ducking questions and blaming others for this entire episode,” he said.—Reuters