"You saw a man who will do and say anything to get elected, and I am not just speaking as a father here, although I am a pretty angry father," Cheney told supporters at a rally in Fort Myers, Florida, without specifically talking about Kerry's remarks.

During his debate with President George W. Bush in Tempe, Arizona, Kerry was asked whether he believes homosexuality is a choice.

"We're all God's children," Kerry responded. "And I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was. She's being who she was born as. I think if you talk to anybody, it's not a choice."

The vice president's wife, Lynne Cheney, reacted angrily soon after the debate. "I did have a chance to assess John Kerry once more and now the only thing I could conclude: This is not a good man," she said at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. "Of course, I am speaking as a mom, and a pretty indignant mom. This is not a good man. What a cheap and tawdry political trick."

Cheney has himself talked about his daughter's homosexuality on his campaign trails, disagreeing with Bush's proposal for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriages. When his Democratic rival John Edwards brought up the name of his gay daughter during their debate on Oct. 5, Cheney expressed no objection.

Kerry issued a statement Thursday saying his remarks were meant to be positive. "I was trying to say something positive about the way strong families deal with this issue," he said.

Edwards's wife, Elizabeth Edwards, suggested in an interview with ABC Radio Thursday that Mrs. Cheney had overreacted to Kerry's remarks. "I think that it indicates a certain degree of shame with respect to her daughter's sexual preferences," she said.

Gay marriage is among those hotly-debated issues during the campaign. Public polls show most Americans oppose gay marriage, but are evenly divided regarding the need for a federal constitutional amendment to ban it.

Congress effectively killed Bush's proposal for a constitutional amendment last month when it failed to approve the amendment. Kerry opposes a constitutional ban but expresses belief that marriage is the union of man and woman.