From the Baltimore Sun:

Kerry starts hunt for dollars to fight GOP's attack ads

"America deserves better than a debate that is simply full of attacks and distortions," Kerry said at the fund-raiser, which campaign officials estimated would rake in $11 million, a Democratic record for direct donations at a single event...

At the same time, Kerry has seen his standing in the polls slip, in a signal that Bush's well-funded attack ads are having an effect with voters...

"Bush's attacks penetrated," said Jim Gerstein, executive director of Democracy Corps. "But Bush's own positives did not go up during this period."

Bush Attack on Kerry Defense Record Fails to Win Lead

With Kerry taking a break in Idaho, his campaign officials have been left to respond to attacks without their candidate...

"Dick Cheney has emerged from his bunker to engage in partisan attacks,'' said Jeanne Shaheen, former governor of New Hampshire and chairwoman of Kerry for President, in one of the statements. "While the leadership of the Bush administration seems focused on destroying John Kerry with false and distorted attacks, we see their foreign policy continuing to fail around the world.'' [...]

The Bush campaign this week is turning to criticism of Kerry's spending proposals, as part of a plan to attack the Democrat as a politician who would raise taxes, weaken the fight against terrorism and constrain economic growth...

Kerry will spend tomorrow in Washington and campaign in Michigan and Missouri Friday and Saturday. He should focus on the loss of jobs under Bush if he wants to overcome attacks before the Nov. 2 election...

Kerry airs response to Bush attack ad

The 30-second message is a response to the first negative ads from the Bush campaign, which attacked the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee...

One of the ads -- named "100 Days" -- is his first TV commercial directly attacking Kerry...

The Kerry team also launched a Web site called "D-bunker" designed to "beat back misleading Bush attacks."

Kerry advisers say part of his strategy is to show he is a candidate who won't back down. They point to an incident this week in which he was caught, in what appeared to be an unguarded moment, calling those who are attacking him "the most crooked, you know, lying group of people I've ever seen."

The Bush campaign called for an apology, but Kerry refused, saying he stands by his comments about a Republican "attack machine."

Front and center on his Web site Friday were the words "No apologies for Republican attack squad."

"I think his message, and the message of our campaign to the Bush campaign, is simply this: we're not going to take it. You can send all these people out, attack Kerry, his patriotism, his service to the country -- we're simply not going to take it, we're going to push back" Devine said.