SEATTLE — John Kerry, last year's unsuccessful Democratic nominee for president, was back on the campaign trail today — this time promoting a Democratic resurgence at America's state capitals as the party attempts to rebuild nationally.

The Massachusetts senator said the national government has been hijacked by fast-talking, mean-spirited and destructive Republicans. After blistering Republicans on everything from Iraq to health care, Kerry said Democrats have an opportunity to rebuild from coast to coast by simply addressing the concerns that affect people's daily lives — energy, transportation, health care and security, for starters.

His comments came before 750 Democratic state legislators who were attending the National Conference of State Legislatures. He announced plans to campaign and raise money for Democratic legislative candidates across America.

He may use those chits for a new White House bid, but said in an interview that he's taking his political plans a day at a time.

"I don't have a timeline," he said. "I'm just going to go out and see what we can do about '06 (midterm elections for Congress and state legislatures), try to be as helpful as possible, and then begin to make some judgments."

John Edwards, his running mate last year and a potential rival for the 2008 nomination, was in Seattle earlier this week, meeting with Democratic state lawmakers and a new liberal policy group, Progressive Leadership Action Network. He, too, said it was premature to talk White House politics.

Both trailed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in a recent poll of Washington Democrats asked their preference for the party's 2008 presidential nominee. Clinton had 36 percent, to 12 percent for Kerry, 10 percent for Al Gore and 7 percent for Edwards. The poll was part of an 800-voter sample taken statewide Aug. 5-7 by Strategic Vision.

Washington, along with Oregon and California, stayed in the Democratic column last year. Kerry beat George Bush here by 5 percentage points. The state hasn't gone Republican since 1984.

The ill-fated campaign was still clearly on Kerry's mind, with an analysis and a broadside against Bush and congressional Republicans taking up the lion's share of his 35-minute speech to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee's luncheon.

Kerry scoffed at the idea that Democrats need an extreme makeover.

"We have to go out and fight for the real issues that make a difference in the lives of the American people and we don't need some great lurch to the right or lurch to the left or redefinition of the Democratic Party.

"The last thing America needs is a second Republican Party."

Kerry said Bush and the Republicans have used the terrorism issue to divert attention from issues that favored the Democrats.

In an arch comment about the president's recent statement in favor of teaching "intelligent design" as an alternative to the theory of evolution, Kerry said, "I think we ought to be getting some intelligent design in our policy in Iraq."

That drew a standing ovation and whoops of delight from the audience.

The senator said Republicans seem to care only about getting elected and taking care of the rich. In a slap at religious conservatives, he said his careful reading of the New Testament recently didn't turn up a single example of Jesus promoting the rich over the poor.

"A narrow ideological agenda is taking precedence over solving real problems," Kerry said.

He said it's no surprise that Democrats have been gaining at the state capitals. After falling behind Republicans in the 1990s after generations of controlling legislatures, Democrats have fought back to parity. Democrats control both chambers in 19 states and Republicans in 20 states, and the two parties currently have almost equal numbers of state lawmakers nationally.

Democrats moved 10 chambers into their column last year, "the best overlooked story of 2004," said Colorado Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, chairwoman of the national campaign group.

More states are targeted this year and next, and Democrats hope to be in good position when legislative and congressional boundaries are redrawn after the 2010 national census, she said.

"We're doing something right" at the legislative campaign level, and the national and congressional candidates will surely benefit, a shirt-sleeved Kerry said in the interview, plowing into a heaping plate of snow crab, asparagus and a thick chocolate shake.

Kerry told his audience earlier that while Republicans dither and practice politics of "nastiness and partisanship," Democratic legislators are showing the right stuff, connecting with people on their front porches and then going to the capitals to fix their problems.

"The states are now the laboratories, much more than before, because of the refusal of Washington to do what's important and necessary. You're forced to spend too much time cleaning up what Washington either messes up or leaves undone altogether."

A lawmaker in the audience yelled, "You tell it!"