Dean questions Kerry's record in debate

Democrat Howard Dean, on the attack in the last debate before next week's seven crucial presidential contests, has questioned front-runner John Kerry's record in Congress and accused his rivals of co-opting his message.

Dean said on Thursday Kerry had sponsored nine bills related to health care in the Senate during his 19 years in office "and not one of them passed."

"If you want a president who is going to get results, I suggest that you look at somebody who did get results in my state," Dean said during a debate in South Carolina.

Dean, who rose to the top of the Democratic pack on the basis of his blunt attacks on Bush, the war in Iraq and the Democrats who supported it, accused his rivals of adopting his message on changing Washington and drawing new people into the party.

"The truth is I stood up for that message when nobody else would. I stood up against the president's war in Iraq when nobody else would, except for Dennis (Kucinich)," he said.

"When you go to elect a president, you want somebody who's going to stand up for you. How do you know anybody else is going to stand up for you if they wouldn't do it when it really counted and when it wasn't popular?" Dean asked.