Kerry Hones Message Out West - WSJ

'Let America Be America' Aims To Meld Can-Do Optimism, Values

By DAVID ROGERS
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL


PORTLAND, ORE. -- John Kerry left the West on Tuesday with a pocketful of Las Vegas campaign checks, Howard Dean by his side and the memory of a boisterous, cheering evening crowd that filled Pioneer Square here and spilled into neighboring downtown streets. But most important may be the new rallying cry that Mr. Kerry brought back with him: "Let America be America again." After weeks of struggle, he is increasingly confident that he can find the words and "music" to break through with voters in the November general election.

It couldn't happen soon enough for his fellow Democrats. While continued violence in Iraq and economic worries at home have sapped public confidence and hurt approval ratings for President Bush, worried Democrats have complained that their nominee-in-waiting has been too slow to project a clear message and establish himself as a strong alternative.

But Mr. Kerry's three-day Western swing this week could prove a turning point. At a time of national self-doubt, the Massachusetts senator hopes to project an image of reassuring strength that melds "can-do" American optimism with a call for a return to the sense of community.

(snip)

The line comes from the title of a Langston Hughes poem. Mr. Kerry first wrapped it into an appearance on Monday in heavily Republican Kansas with civil-rights leaders, where he commemorated the 50th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education court ruling. He then took the words and made them more distinctly his own.

(snip)"


The Topeka speech was almost lost in the middle. Its ideas reflected the strong input of Terry Edmonds, an African-American speechwriter who worked in the Clinton White House. But having labored on its content, Mr. Kerry read it so carefully that he seemed to be presenting a term paper at a graduation ceremony. Still, it was a breakthrough in the campaign language of this still-evolving candidate. At one level, the story of the Kerry campaign has been his learning to shed the stilted, metaphor-ridden style of his prep school and Senate days, and talk more directly to people.

(snip)

Write to David Rogers at david.rogers@wsj.com

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108500453966716182,00.html

and he's right where he needs to be, getting better (and more contributions) every day