BOSTON/NEW YORK, 28 July 2004 — After a full-bore attack on George W. Bush, Democrats here turned yesterday to the job of selling their presidential candidate John Kerry to a US electorate still filled with many questions. Some 5,000 delegates went into the second day of their four-day national convention fired up by ex-President Bill Clinton and other speakers Monday who roasted the Republican Bush on issues from Iraq to the economy.
They began the task yesterday of presenting Kerry as an alternative, with a host of testimonials and biographical material scheduled to highlight his leadership skills as a Vietnam War hero, public prosecutor and veteran senator. Polls show the convention coming at a critical time for Kerry, who appears to be losing ground to Bush in several areas head of the Nov. 2 election and has yet to fully define his image and message.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll released yesterday showed that if Kerry was running neck and neck with Bush, 54 percent of Americans were still unfamiliar with his positions. Among Democrats alone, the percentage was 46 percent. More people (49-43 percent) saw Bush as the candidate who better reflected their values, reversing a two-point Kerry edge in June. Bush also widened his lead on who could better keep the country safe to 54-38 percent.
Kerry lagged on handling Iraq, the war on terrorism and taxes, while the president pulled even on the economy and education, issues that were a Democratic strength two weeks ago. Although Bush is struggling with criticism over his military operation in Iraq, a new Gallup poll showed 45 percent of Americans felt he had a clear plan for the follow-up while only one-third said Kerry did.
Kerry campaign aides blame the impressions on tens of millions of dollars spent on television advertising by the Republicans to portray the Massachusetts lawmaker as weak and waffling on defense. They see this week’s convention, held under ultra-tight security at the FleetCenter sports arena in Kerry’s hometown, as a crucial opportunity for him to highlight his experience and mettle under fire. The theme of yesterday’s session was “A Lifetime of Strength and Service.” It featured tributes from a range of people led by Democratic patriarch Sen. Edward Kennedy and including Kerry’s wife Teresa Heinz Kerry and stepson Chris.
Kerry, meanwhile, pressed his claim to be the more effective wartime president at a rally in Norfolk, Virginia — home to a Naval base and to one of the country’s largest concentrations of military veterans. On Monday, an all-star lineup of Clinton, his Vice President Al Gore and former President Jimmy Carter ignored promises to mute the Bush-bashing and savaged the president on Iraq, the Sept. 11 attacks and US diplomacy.
Clinton wowed the convention’s opening night with a polished speech that sought to make clear the differences between Democrats and Republicans — something Kerry has been criticized for failing to do.
He said Kerry “favors shared responsibility, shared opportunity and more global cooperation” while Bush and the Republicans “favor concentrated wealth and power, leaving people to fend for themselves and more unilateral action.” Clinton also ridiculed Republican claims that Kerry and his running-mate, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, could not be trusted to keep America safe. “Strength and wisdom are not conflicting values,” the former president said with a sarcasm that brought the Democratic delegates to their feet in cheers.
“We have got to choose for president between two strong men who both love their country, but who have very different world views. Our nominee, John Kerry, who favors shared responsibility, shared opportunity and more global cooperation. And their president and their party in Congress, who favor concentrated wealth and power, leaving people to fend for themselves and more unilateral action,” Clinton said.
“We live in an interdependent world, in which we cannot possibly kill, jail or occupy all our potential adversaries. So, we have to both fight terror and build a world with more partners and fewer terrorists.”
Al Gore also delivered an impassioned speech, suggesting Bush has gotten the country in “very serious trouble” in Iraq, and that he’s “burned his bridges to our allies.”
Gore put his attacks into a series of questions — asking if the country wouldn’t be better off with someone who could “rebuild respect for America in the world.” And he asked, “Wouldn’t we be safer with a president who didn’t insist on confusing Al-Qaeda with Iraq?” Gore spent much of his speech building up Kerry, rather than tearing down Bush. He described Kerry as a man whose “word is his bond” — and someone who has “devoted his life to making America a better place.” Gore was greeted with a huge ovation.
Carter accused the Bush administration and the Republican Party of wasting opportunities for world unity following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.“After 9/11, America stood proud, wounded, but united. A cowardly attack on innocent civilians brought us an unprecedented level of cooperation and understanding around the world. But in just 34 months, we have watched with great concern, as all this good will has been squandered by a virtually unbroken series of mistakes and miscalculations,” he said.
