President Bush and Sen. John Kerry battled over health care, jobs, taxes and other domestic issues in the third and final presidential debate of the campaign last night.
The two candidates also outlined differences on immigration, abortion, gay marriage, the minimum wage and their different faiths. Both candidates also took advantage of several chances to weave the Iraq war into the debate, which was held in the key swing state of Arizona.
During one exchange, Kerry quoted Bush as saying he does not think much about Osama bin Laden and is not all that concerned about him. The president replied “I just don’t think I ever said I’m not worried about Osama bin Laden. It’s kind of one of those exaggerations.”
But at a press conference on March 13th 2002, just as the build-up for the Iraq war was getting underway, Bush did say about bin Laden “I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run.” He described bin Laden as “marginalized,” and said, “I just don’t spend that much time on him.”