President Bush yesterday took issue with Sen. John Edwards' vice-presidential credentials as the GOP cranked up an assault that began just moments after Sen. John F. Kerry disclosed that he had chosen Edwards as running mate.

Susan Walsh, Post-Gazette

President Bush passes out lemonade after stopping at a roadside stand near a fund-raiser he attended in Raleigh, N.C, yesterday. The Bush campaign was offering tart evaluations of North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, announced Tuesday as the Democratic vice-presidential running mate for Sen. John F. Kerry. Click photo for larger image. MORE COVERAGE: Kerry, Edwards tell Cleveland crowd they're 'a new team' How Moon airport worker scored a 'scoop' on Edwards' selection Campaign photojournal More election coverage, with updated Associated Press headlines

During a fortuitous, previously scheduled campaign stop in Edwards' hometown, the president was asked how Kerry's choice stacked up against Vice President Dick Cheney.

"Dick Cheney can be president. Next?" was Bush's dismissive reply.

Bush also charged that Edwards had frustrated his judicial selections by blocking votes on several nominations. His appearance in North Carolina yesterday came in a state that Bush won easily in 2000, but one whose political terrain this November was suddenly altered with the new status of its senior senator.

The Kerry campaign said the president was "hitting the panic button" over the new ticket.

"The fact that the president of the United States is personally taking swipes at the Kerry-Edwards ticket a mere day after it was announced speaks volumes," the campaign said in a statement quoted by the Associated Press. "It's just disappointing that the president of the United States would stoop to this kind of political bickering."

Bush's skepticism about Edwards' experience was echoed yesterday in a conference call with Sen. Arlen Specter, which was arranged for Pennsylvania reporters by the Bush campaign.

"[His] experience in government is obviously very limited," Specter said. While describing Edwards as a friend and praising his intelligence, the Pennsylvania Republican, who's also up for re-election, maintained that Edwards' governmental record paled beside that of Cheney.

"[Edwards] has no experience on defense or foreign affairs," said Specter.

Those observations were echoed in a series of similar calls, with different speakers but similar messages, orchestrated by the campaign across the country.

"We do them in a whole host of states," said Kevin Madden, a spokesman for the Bush-Cheney campaign, who declined to offer more specifics for what he called "strategic reasons."

The Kerry campaign rushed to rebut the GOP criticism in hastily arranged conference calls of their own. For Pennsylvania reporters, they offered Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Phila., and Rep. Joseph Hoeffel, D-Montgomery County, Specter's opponent in the race for the Senate.

Fattah complained of "the ferociousness of the attack," on Edwards, claiming that it reflected a level of concern over the selection. "Within seconds of the announcement, they put out a massive email across the country," Fattah noted.

The response and rebuttal may or may not have demonstrated concern about the choice, but it unquestionably reflected the depth of preparation in both camps. Political campaigns almost inevitably contain their share of surprises and missteps, but the maneuvering surrounding the Edwards announcement, on both sides, showed textbook examples of the nuts and bolts of campaign logistics.

Kerry presided over a surprisingly leak-proof selection process calculated to maximize news media dividends. The GOP team showed matching agility in its response.

Before Edwards had even appeared with his new running mate, would-be voters could find a newly minted Republican Web site, Kerrypicksedwards.com, and click on links to: "Edwards' liberal interest group ratings," "Edwards' liberal record on key votes," or "Edwards at odds with John Kerry."

The site, prepared by GOP researchers for instant dissemination well in advance of Tuesday's announcement, contains an exhaustive compilation of votes and statements calculated to portray Edwards in a negative light. Madden declined to discuss exactly how many other potential vice presidential contenders had been the subject of similar tendentious compilations.

"I think our campaign puts a premium on preparation," he said. "We make sure we are prepared every day to get the president's message out. ... the Boy Scout motto, 'Be prepared,' is one that we keep in mind."

President Bush will have a chance to continue the assault on the new Democratic ticket tomorrow on a visit to Pennsylvania's GOP heartland in the center of the state. It will be his 29th trip to the state since he was elected.