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Kerry readies crucial acceptance speech to faithful
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-07-30 01:14
Democrats readied a grand celebration on Thursday for new presidential
nominee John Kerry, who will deliver a crucial acceptance speech designed to
introduce him to voters and spark some bounce in the polls.
The prime-time, televised address by Kerry, who was formally nominated for
the White House shortly before midnight on Wednesday, will give the
Massachusetts senator his biggest national audience until he takes on President
Bush in debate in late September.
Democratic
presidential candidate John Kerry raises his fist as he arrives for a
rally at the Charlestown Naval Yard in Boston, July 28, 2004.
[Reuters] | The speech will frame many of the
issues Kerry and running mate John Edwards will stress in their November
election battle with Bush, including the war in Iraq, health care, the economy
and the war on terror.
It also will give Kerry plenty of opportunity to acquaint voters with his
life story and military history, a major goal of the four-day Democratic
National Convention that has featured a string of events with Kerry's friends,
fellow veterans and the party's brightest stars.
Conventions are often the first time the general public tunes into a
presidential race and polls show many Americans are still unfamiliar with Kerry,
a four-term senator, decorated Vietnam War veteran and former prosecutor.
Democratic leaders are focused on reassuring the nation it would be as safe
or safer under Kerry and that his stewardship would better relieve economic
insecurity, The Washington Post said. "But only Mr. Kerry can close the sale,
and his first objective tonight will be to convince voters that he is a credible
potential commander in chief," it said in an editorial.
DAUGHTERS, GREEN BERET
Kerry's daughters, Alexandra and Vanessa, will address the convention before
their father, along with former Army Green Beret Jim Rassman, whose life was
saved by Kerry during a Vietnam War firefight.
"I think the key thing that we are going to try to do is we are going to
share stories and we are going to share I think a little bit about why we are so
close with our father, because I think it is unusual," Vanessa Kerry told NBC's
Today show.
Several of Kerry's former Navy crewmates, who joined him on a trip across
Boston Harbor via water taxi on Wednesday as he arrived in town, also will
speak.
Kerry will be introduced by former Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, a frequent
companion for Kerry on the campaign trail and a fellow Vietnam War veteran who
lost three limbs during the war. Cleland lost his 2002 re-election after a
bitter campaign in which Republicans questioned his patriotism.
Edwards delivered his own speech to the convention on Wednesday night,
extolling Kerry's values and decisive leadership and promising struggling
Americans that "hope is on the way."
"I thought John Edwards was great last night. I thought he did just what he
had to do," Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman, who ran as Al Gore's vice
presidential choice in the last election where they lost to Bush, told "Fox
& Friends."
Edwards, a first-term senator from North Carolina, will visit the delegation
from his home state on Thursday morning and stop by several other delegation
meetings afterward.
SEEKING 'BOUNCE'
Kerry has been working on his speech for weeks and aides said he was still
tinkering with it in recent days. He denied in a recent television interview his
performance would make or break his campaign, saying the fall debates with Bush
could have more impact.
Kerry hopes his four days in the spotlight provide a measurable surge in
public approval, known as "bounce," which in the past has often given nominees a
double-digit boost in the polls.
Republicans have tried to raise expectations for Kerry, predicting a 15-point
gain for him after the convention. Democrats say the closely divided electorate
and relatively small number of undecided voters made a big bounce unlikely.
Kerry and Edwards will hit the road together on Friday, leaving Boston by bus
after an early morning kickoff rally. They will head to Pennsylvania on a
two-week cross-country trip that will hit many of the key battleground states in
the Nov. 2 election that polls show is essentially a dead heat.
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