Making America stronger is theme Democrats eager for voters to hear

By David Postman
Seattle Times political reporter

PETE SOUZA / CHICAGO TRIBUNE Sen. John Kerry travels by boat with his Vietnam War crewmates after arriving at Boston's Logan Airport yesterday en route to a welcoming rally in Charlestown, Mass.

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It is written everywhere, many times over, from the ceiling of the convention hall to press-conference backdrops: "A Stronger America."

In a wartime election, a key ingredient that Kerry needs to unseat President Bush is voters' confidence that Democrats can be tougher on terrorism than Republicans and, furthermore, that Bush's military policy has put America in more danger. It's a push against years of conventional wisdom that Republicans are stronger on national defense.

To do this, Democrats are redefining what tough and strong mean in the context of national security.

"It entails not only the military, but diplomats and intelligence and economics and social and political tools in our arsenal," said Susan Rice, the Kerry campaign's foreign-policy adviser. "This is not just about shooting and killing and capturing."

The underpinnings of Kerry's foreign policy were unveiled in a May speech in Seattle. He outlined "four imperatives": to build new international alliances, to modernize the military, to better use diplomacy and intelligence, and to make the country independent of foreign oil.

"We are all committed to winning the war on terrorism," Rice said. "George Bush's approach is to fight and win solely with the military."

Veterans greet Kerry

From the opening of this week's convention, Democrats have worked to paint Kerry as a decisive military leader.

Yesterday was carefully scripted to keep the message focused on national security. Kerry arrived in Boston and was greeted by a group of men who served with him in Vietnam. Later, he was publicly endorsed by a dozen retired generals and admirals, including Gen. John Shalikashvili, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Earlier, former President Clinton used his convention speech to drive home the point that a Kerry presidency would mean more security. "Strength and wisdom are not opposing values," he said.
 
But a private comment Clinton was reported to have made later shows the difficulty Kerry faces with some moderate, swing voters. "They think Kerry's smart; they're not sure he's tough," Clinton told an exclusive private party in a conversation overheard by a reporter in the hotel bar, according to National Journal's Convention Daily.

Rice concedes that Democrats historically have been at a disadvantage in national-security debates. That hasn't meant much in the past two presidential elections, which focused much more on domestic issues. But the Iraq war guarantees foreign policy will be in the forefront this year.

A Washington Post/ABC News poll of 1,202 adults before the start of the convention found that 52 percent trusted Bush to do a better job handling the war in Iraq, compared with 40 percent for Kerry. The July 22-25 poll said 55 percent trusted the president to wage a more effective U.S. campaign against terrorism, versus 37 percent for Kerry. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

The Kerry campaign contends he is closing the gap, and released its own polling supporting that idea.

Responding to Kerry's emphasis yesterday on national-security issues, Republicans focused on allegations that he flip-flops on questions of defense: for example, that Kerry voted to support the Iraq war but says he cannot support it the way Bush has carried it out.

The Republican National Committee yesterday released an 11-minute video that edits together various Kerry statements on the war, accompanied at one point by the theme song to the old TV show "Flipper."

"The horror of war"

"There is zero strength in John Kerry's vacillation on the very serious issue of national security," said Bush campaign spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt.

In her briefing to reporters, Rice replied that America today is "not appreciably more secure," and that the Iraq war has only made that country perhaps the new proving ground for terrorists.

In the Clinton administration, Rice was assistant secretary of state for African affairs and a senior director with the National Security Council. She joined the campaign as a senior adviser two weeks ago.

Shalikashvili, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke to the convention about his first political foray.

"I know about the horror of war and thus join with others like John Kerry in believing that we must go to war only when all other efforts to resolve the threat to us have been exhausted," Shalikashvili told the delegates.

"I stand before you this evening because I believe that no one will be more resolute in defending America nor in pursuing terrorists than John Kerry. And that no one will be more skilled in bringing allies back to our side."

Still, that can be a tricky appeal to many liberal Democrats.

Many of those delegates in Boston strongly disagree with Kerry about the Iraq war. Many say the U.S. should never have gone to war and want to see a quick withdrawal, as proposed by former Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.

Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark, another former Kerry rival for the nomination, said yesterday a quick withdrawal would be a mistake, and Kerry is right to seek the help of allies and develop a longer-range plan to remove U.S. troops.

"The United States has committed itself," Clark said.

Clark predicted most voters will look more at Kerry's background and experience than any details of his plan for Iraq, the military or strategic alliances.

"There are plenty of details," he said. "But the American people will judge overall, and they'll believe John Kerry will be a great commander in chief."

David Postman: 360-943-9882 or dpostman@seattletimes.com. Reuters news service contributed to this report.