BOSTON — The Democrats have gone to a war footing.
John Kerry accepted the nomination of his party Thursday night with a speech more muscular than any Democratic presidential nominee has given at a convention in four decades.
• Consider the images in the biographical video that introduced him: snapshots of a young Kerry squinting into the sun with the crew of the swift boat he captained in Vietnam, and of him standing ramrod-straight in a crisp white uniform as a Bronze Star was pinned on his chest.
• Consider the friend he chose to introduce him: former Georgia senator Max Cleland, a veteran who returned from Vietnam in a wheelchair, both legs and one arm blown off by a grenade.
• Consider the words Kerry used in his speech, as drafted for delivery: Strength. Tough. Fight. Defend. Force. Attack. Security.
"I defended this country as a young man, and I will defend it as president," the Massachusetts senator said in the advance text. "Let there be no mistake: I will never hesitate to use force when it is required. Any attack will be met with a swift and certain response. I will never give any nation or international institution a veto over our national security. And I will build a stronger American military."
To terrorists, he said: "You will lose, and we will win."
Kerry even turned some of the most memorable phrases that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney used in 2000 against them.
As convention speakers promised military strength, the FleetCenter reverberated with cheers and applause even though nine of 10 delegates in the hall oppose the war in Iraq. Surveys before the convention showed that most of them cite as priorities such domestic issues as health care, jobs and education. "Issues are fine," Gregg Gallo, a delegate from Washington state sporting a stovepipe hat with a gay-pride rainbow, told an Associated Press reporter. "Winning is great."
The strong-on-defense, tough-on-terrorism message was all about winning. In a tight race, Kerry already is seen in the USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll as roughly equal or better than Bush on handling the economy, health care and Iraq. But dealing with terrorism remains Bush's big advantage — an important edge in the first presidential election since the Sept. 11 attacks. Republicans portray Kerry as inconsistent and unready, a point they presumably will press at their party's convention in New York City next month.
At the Democratic convention here this week, speaker after speaker described him as sure-footed and strong. Onstage Wednesday were a dozen retired three- and four-star generals and admirals who have endorsed him. Onstage Thursday were a dozen veterans, including those with whom he served.
Kerry didn't ignore domestic issues. He talked about controlling health care costs, generating good jobs, balancing the budget, lifting millions out of poverty. Those are the themes emphasized by recent Democratic nominees.
He promised not to raise taxes on the middle class. He talked about his family and his faith.
But the spotlight was on national security. Indeed, Kerry won the nomination in large part because Democrats in the Iowa caucuses in January and in later primaries calculated that his war record and Senate experience made him the candidate who would best match the nation's mood.
Kerry didn't refer to his vote to authorize the war in Iraq. But he promised to be "a commander in chief who will never mislead us into war." He vowed to reform the intelligence system and rebuild ties with allies, and he rejected Bush's doctrine of pre-emptive attack: "As president, I will bring back this nation's time-honored tradition: The United States never goes to war because we want to, we only go to war because we have to."
He echoed a taunting phrase that Cheney used in his convention acceptance speech in Philadelphia four years ago: "To all who serve in our armed forces today, I say, help is on the way."
And he offered a variation on Bush's campaign promise in 2000 to restore honor and dignity to the Oval Office. "As president, I will restore trust and credibility to the White House," he said.
Kerry's strategists ended the week having succeeded in the immediate goals they set for the convention: Projecting a consistent message. Avoiding public division. Limiting the bashing of Bush. Kerry mentioned his opponent's name just twice, neither time in a critical way. They orchestrated the sort of on-time, no-conflict convention formerly known as Republican.
The risk is whether the restraint designed to appeal to swing voters might fail to energize those core Democrats who are fiercely anti-Bush.
And whether Kerry strategists succeeded in their larger goal — convincing voters in such battleground states as Ohio, Wisconsin, Oregon and Maine that Kerry can be trusted to protect them in a dangerous world — is hard to judge. Pollsters for both campaigns were in the field the moment Kerry's speech ended to measure that.
Susan Page, USA TODAY
