That's how Kerry's campaign chairwoman Jeanne Shaheen characterized Vice President Dick Cheney's recent suggestion that a vote for John Kerry would put the nation at risk of more terrorist attacks.

Shaheen stopped in Salt Lake City on Thursday to deliver an election-year pep talk at the Utah Democrats' annual Eleanor Roosevelt fund-raising luncheon. The luncheon drew about 600 people at $50 a head or $500 per table - a sizable boost over the average attendance of 300 in previous years.

During the speech, New Hampshire's former governor criticized the Bush administration for ignoring domestic issues and "misleading us into war with Iraq."

Only when pressed by reporters after the talk did Shaheen address President Bush's campaign tactics, which have drawn criticism but appear to be working, with recent polls showing Bush in the lead.

"The Bush-Cheney campaign has been willing to mislead Americans on a whole range of issues," said Shaheen, citing their attack on Kerry's war record.

"John Kerry fought for this country. He was in Vietnam while Bush got deferments."

Bush's strategy aims at diverting attention from his own track record, said Shaheen. "What George Bush has done has not made us safer. We're seeing terrorists created on a daily basis in Iraq. That doesn't make us safer."

When asked to clarify Kerry's position on the war, Shaheen said, "He has been very clear about his position on Iraq. He believes a president ought to be able to use force, but he would have done so differently."

That is, she said, without lying about weapons of mass destruction and with the support of our allies. "The war has been a saga of one mistake after another. George Bush and his administration have failed and as a result young women and men are dying and we are paying the cost."

Shaheen acknowledged Kerry faces a bitter battle with 54 days left in the campaign, but said, "John Kerry is best when he's behind."