If his death struggle with Dean is all that the media wants to talk to him about, Kerry insists that his conversations with voters are quite different. He says he's been talking more at his public appearances about healthcare, education, taxes, the environment, because those are the issues that voters want to talk about. He insists that his focus on anti-corporate-establishment themes is nothing new, but merely a rejiggered version of what he's been saying from the beginning. "I've been talking about this stuff all campaign," he said. "I think I've sharpened it a little bit as to where I'm putting it and how much I'm focusing on it, but it's not a new focus for me." (For the record, according to ABC News Kerry-watcher Ed O'Keefe, it was precisely on Oct. 28, 2003, when Kerry unveiled his new stump speech at a house party in New Hampshire.)

On those subjects, and others, Kerry continues to be harshly critical of the Bush administration, but less uniformly so than some of his opponents.

Asked about the economy, for example, in light of new numbers indicating upturns in productivity and job creation, Kerry said that some good had come of the Bush tax cut, even if he still believed it was in inequitable and largely ineffective. "Bush already has done some things to remedy [the economy]," he said. "There's an enormous amount of stimulus in the economy today -- you can't ignore that reality -- but it's not as effectively distributed as it might have been over a period of time. It's bound to have some effect, but that's not the measurement of whether it was fair or not."

Similarly, his criticism of the situation in Iraq was based on the method in which it was being handled without being predicated on failure of the mission. Asked about the president's chances of succeeding in making Iraq a democracy, Kerry said, "I think he's on a very difficult road. I mean 'can you' is in the less than 50 percent category. It's not a pretty picture ... Whether he does or not he will have risked American lives, put people in greater jeopardy, and spent more money."

Generally, though, he continued to sound the central theme that the Bush administration's policies benefit campaign contributors, powerful interests -- "big oil, big gas, big pharmaceuticals" --and the wealthiest Americans, at the expense of working families. At a press conference by Arlington Lake in Salem, N.H., which has been contaminated by the gasoline additive MTBE, Kerry used the phrase "special interests" no fewer than 10 times.

The message, at least, is clear, and Kerry predicted that if he continued to talk about these things -- the issues that affect voters -- then electoral concerns could take care of themselves.

Outside Harvey's Bakery, an often-visited campaign stop in Dover, Kerry made conversation with some local residents. Robert Forbes, a tattooed World War II veteran in an FDNY sweatshirt, complained about the benefits that people like him were getting from the government, and about how much money was being spent abroad. Kerry sympathized. "A lot of veterans are getting screwed," he said. Suddenly, he held up a long finger in the man's face: "Do you know how much money the top 1 percent of Americans got from the Bush tax cut?" he asked. "Ninety billion dollars. OK? That's our prescription drug plan." Satisfied, Forbes slapped Kerry on the back and pledged to vote for him.

It was the sort of direct, simple exchange that seemed to belie the elitist Beltway insider caricature Kerry has been saddled with so effectively by Dean, among others. "I think that what I'm doing is what I've been doing for 35 years, and Howard Dean just saying something [about his being a Washington insider] doesn't make it so," he said. "I've been fighting those special interests longer than he has even been governor or involved in politics -- and my record speaks for itself and it's going to speak in the course of this campaign."

Given Dean's recent achievements -- enough economic resources to pass up public financing, pending endorsements from two of the most influential unions in the country; invaluable lists of supporters compiled over the Internet who continue to donate, volunteer and organize in huge numbers -- one might wonder if the adjustments haven't come too late.

But Kerry says things are back on track. "My campaign is moving," he said. "We're very close out in Iowa -- we have a terrific ground operation out there -- and I think we're moving here in New Hampshire. We just got up on TV. We're now there, and I feel very good about it. I'm not as far behind as Gore was behind Bradley [at this point in 1999]. We're doing very well."

Recent Stories