Front-runner Kerry reinvents himself the hard way

By Jill Zuckman
Chicago Tribune

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He was long-winded, so he shortened his speeches. He was distant, so he started talking to voters in personal terms. Seen as privileged, he surrounded himself with fellow Vietnam combat veterans. Seen as arrogant, the Massachusetts senator demonstrated humility, often embracing voters and telling them, "I love you."

A campaign that seemed moribund has been transformed into that of a formidable front-runner.

"It's almost like harder is better for him," said Chris Greeley, a longtime friend and the campaign manager for his 1996 re-election bid against then-Massachusetts Gov. William Weld. "In some ways, it's like a fuel for him."

To Kerry, campaigns are supposed to be hard. "Campaigns are a challenge," he said. "Part of the challenge is rising to the occasion. It's always a test, and each level becomes more of a test. ... The run for the presidency, I've always been told, is the toughest of all, and I'm finding there's a lot of truth to that. People want to know if you're made of the stuff to be president as you go along the way."

That, he said, is what he told himself during periods when he had almost become an afterthought to the political cognoscenti. But in dramatic fashion, Kerry's campaign has shifted from the bleakest to the best of times.

Friends, family members and longtime aides say Kerry was able to reach this critical point in the campaign because of his ability to focus on the task at hand, rather than becoming distracted by the many campaign developments he couldn't control.

At the same time, he took criticism to heart, reinventing his campaign and transforming himself as a candidate. And he benefited from the value of risk, choosing to spend time, money and energy in Iowa instead of New Hampshire, reaping an extraordinary reward.

Easy it wasn't. The hard path seems to be the one Kerry has followed repeatedly throughout his political career. He lost his first race for Congress in 1972, a battle that was cast in the most personal of terms. His brother, Cameron, said Kerry came across as a "cardboard cutout figure without roots in the district." Some voters even refused to shake his hand.

He struggled in the 1982 Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, and he struggled in the 1984 Democratic primary for Senate. The party establishment backed his opponents both times, and he came from behind to win both times. Conventional wisdom in 1996 said he would lose his seat to then-Gov. William Weld. After eight high-octane debates, a combative Kerry emerged the victor.

But this presidential campaign seems to have humbled Kerry to an extent that he had never experienced.
"This was terrible because it was on the front pages of the newspaper," said his campaign manager, Mary Beth Cahill, who acknowledged that they discussed whether he should leave the race entirely. "There was a period when he wasn't even mentioned in the newspapers, and that puts you back on your heels."

Kerry dumped his original campaign manager for Cahill, and they agreed he would spend his time in Iowa with voters who were more receptive to hearing from him. He held multiple town-hall meetings every day. He made it a practice to stay until every last voter who cared to had asked him a question.

It worked. He now can be seen smiling often, a studied contrast to the prickly politician who would pop in his cellphone earpiece the second he finished an event, eager to talk to anybody but the voters in front of him. Even his closest supporters at the time said he looked miserable.

Cameron Kerry attributes the turnaround to his brother's inner drive that extends to all areas of his life.

"He goes out windsurfing and gets knocked down by the wind or the waves and just keeps going at it long after other people would be exhausted and quit," he said.

Indeed, Greeley believes that Kerry's ability to focus in the face of adversity comes from his experience as an athlete who played football, baseball, hockey, soccer and, more recently, golf.

"In sports, you don't give up. You play harder," Greeley said. "The score at the end of the game will be what it will be. The only thing you can do is stay focused on the moment."

Kerry agreed about the value of his sports experience.

"It does teach you something about discipline, about plowing ahead when people are bigger than you or faster than you," Kerry said.

His service in Vietnam, where he was awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with a combat V and three Purple Hearts, also gave him perspective.

His parents, too, played a role in shaping Kerry's resolve.

David Thorne, Kerry's former brother-in-law, said Kerry's father was a taskmaster, and he recalls long sailing trips through the night in the wet and cold. His father taught each of his sons to learn to navigate with a chart, a compass and a blanket over his head.

Kerry now says it was a confidence-builder and part of what makes him "a very determined person."

In a life of mostly victories, though, Kerry was at the cliff of defeat in the most important political race of his life only a short time ago. "I had to dig deep and figure out, 'Am I doing something wrong?' " he said. "If you're going to learn in this business, you've got to grow."

His growth as a candidate, he said, came from the people he met and the stories they told. "If you're not moved by that, you ought to get out of the business," he said.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company