Kennedy, Dean rouse faithful against Bush

By Seattle Times news services

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"Today we say, the only thing we have to fear is four more years of George Bush," Kennedy said, playing off the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt that inspired a Depression-plagued nation 70 years ago.

Kennedy invested a portion of his family legacy and mystique in his fellow Massachusetts senator John Kerry last night, concentrating his fire on Bush.

"America needs a genuine uniter — not a divider who only claims to be a uniter," Kennedy said.

Throughout his 25-minute speech, delivered in a vigorous voice despite some stumbles, the 72-year-old Massachusetts senator drew on Revolutionary War themes and linked them to the challenges now facing America.

"Our struggle is not with some monarch named George who inherited the crown, although it often seems that way," he said. "Our struggle is with the politics of fear and favoritism in our own time, in our own country."

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who stirred emotions early in the campaign when he vowed to represent the "Democratic wing of the Democratic Party," drew some of the loudest applause last night.

"I was hoping for a reception like this. I was just kind of hoping it was going to be on Thursday night," he said, a reference to when Kerry delivers his acceptance speech.

A one-time front-runner whose campaign crashed in a January loss to Kerry in Iowa, Dean told roaring delegates that "never again will we be ashamed to call ourselves Democrats — never, never, never."

Last night was a swan song for Kerry's and Dean's former rival Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, who had hoped to address the convention as presidential nominee but quit after a poor fourth-place showing in Iowa. He was a vice-presidential contender until North Carolina Sen. John Edwards' selection three weeks ago and will retire from Congress when his term ends in January.

"I never dreamed I'd have the chance to serve so many people in so many ways," Gephardt said, thanking his family, his St. Louis constituents and his staff.
 
"I'm a lucky man," he said. "Together, they taught me that win or lose, the dream is what matters. The fight is what it's all about for an America that lifts all those who've been locked out and left out of our bounty and promise."

Last night's presentation reached across the land, as the national anthem was performed via satellite from the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona, sung in the Tohono O'odham language by Michael Enis and Alicia Chiles.

And a 12-year-old girl had a turn at the microphone. Ilana Wexler had some advice for Vice President Dick Cheney, who recently cussed Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.: "Our vice president deserves a long timeout."

She brought the Democrats roaring to their feet.

Ilana, an Oakland, Calif., seventh-grader who founded a grassroots group called kidsforkerry.org, was rewarded last week with an invitation to address the convention.

Information from Knight Ridder Newspapers, Reuters, The Associated Press, Bloomberg and The Washington Post is included in this report.