''Because of this administration's failure of leadership, failure of judgment - because of their failure to act - we've got a shortfall of some 48 million flu vaccines in our country,'' Kerry told supporters who packed a high school gym in the town of Xenia in southeastern Ohio.
''So what's happening with the flu vaccine is really an example of everything this administration does: deny it, pretend it's not there, and then try to hide it when it comes out, act surprised,'' the Democrat said in pressing his argument that Bush has exercised poor judgment as president.
On a two-day bus tour through the Midwest, Kerry focused on many rural counties that backed the president by large margins four years ago.
Kerry aides said that they do not expect to win those areas, but they have enough confidence in their Democratic strongholds that they are now trying to drive up turnout in other areas.
The candidate used Saturday's Democratic radio address to criticize Bush for restricting federal funding for stem cell research. Kerry said he would make funding the research ''a top priority in our government agencies, our universities and our medical community.''
Kerry began the day with a town hall meeting at Xenia High School, where he delivered a stinging rebuke of the Bush administration for failing to ensure an adequate stock of flu shots.
Kerry noted that health officials warned three years ago that relying on just a handful of flu vaccine manufacturers could jeopardize the supply, and said that the government did not act last summer when U.S. health regulators discovered quality control problems at a flu vaccine factory in Liverpool, England.
''They didn't do anything,'' he said. ''They ignored it.''
''In our administration, we're not going to blame everybody else and look for excuses,'' he added. ''I'm going to get that Harry Truman sign back out and the buck stops here!''
''Give 'em hell, Kerry!'' people in the audience shouted, whooping and cheering.
