Democrats visit key states

By The Washington Post

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MILWAUKEE — Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards yesterday took their feel-good trek toward the Democratic convention to two battleground states, with Kerry visiting historic Sioux City, Iowa, and Edwards returning to Milwaukee, where Democrats believe his blue-collar message resonates.

Steps from the Missouri River, Kerry talked of the adventuresome spirit of explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and the need for ordinary Americans to join in a larger cause to "take back our democracy."

"Politics has cheapened words," Kerry said. "We're taking this trip with the hope that we can begin a new conversation in this country, that we can lift ourselves up, reach for the possible and look to the horizon once more."

In Milwaukee, Edwards addressed a rally in the heart of the African-American community, invoking both the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Edwards' own modest background.

"One of the extraordinary things about Dr. King is that growing up the way he did, facing the discrimination, the segregation that he faced every day of his life — he was here in Milwaukee, talking about hope and optimism and ... what's possible. That's what Dr. King believed," the North Carolina senator said.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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