Kerry riding a wave of Democratic unity

CHICAGO -- Since John F. Kerry virtually locked up the Democratic presidential nomination last month, he has been welcomed by cheering crowds -- many bigger than expected -- and volunteers signing up and opening their wallets with unprecedented generosity.

"People are working together as never before," said Jim Jordan, who was fired as Kerry's campaign manager last fall but now works as spokesman for several pro-Democrat groups supporting his campaign.

And last month, Kerry raised $38 million -- more than Al Gore raised for his entire primary campaign in 2000. At one Kerry fund-raiser in Beverly Hills, Calif., about 2,300 people turned up; 1,800 had been expected. If one thing is different about the current campaign compared with its recent predecessors, it is that the famously fractious Democrats are showing an almost-Republican unity of purpose. The singular goal: to defeat George W. Bush.

"Even people who have developed complaining to an art form, right now, they're willing to be 100 percent supportive," said Joe Grandmaison, the former chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, during a Kerry fund-raiser last Wednesday in Washington.

Another was held Thursday in Chicago. It raised a combined $5 million for Kerry and the Democratic National Committee.

Campaign officials expect that a Boston fund-raiser tomorrow will bring in several million dollars.

Such unity stands in contrast to 1988, when then-nominee Michael S. Dukakis was still negotiating with the Rev. Jesse Jackson about a speaking role for the Rainbow Coalition candidate during convention week in Atlanta. It also differs from 1992, when Jerry Brown continued to be the party's front-page newsmaker by refusing to release his delegates to support another candidate even as the party gathered for its convention in New York.

In 2000, it took months before Bill Bradley and Al Gore put aside their differences after a rough primary campaign.

This time around, the Kerry campaign is benefiting in ways big and small. Experienced Washington attorneys, used to billing hundreds of dollars an hour, are volunteering for the campaign, in some cases in such nontraditional roles as website workers. When Kerry is shown on television delivering a major address, as he did repeatedly in the aftermath of his string of primary wins, Internet donations spike, said campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill.

"I was out in Iowa, we were out in New Hampshire, we've been in Michigan, down to the Southwest in New Mexico," Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts bellowed to the crowd of more than 1,000 people at the Kerry fund-raiser Wednesday. "And I'll tell you, there's a wave that's coming across this country."

Kerry had a similar sense, telling his audience: "Thanks to those who were once my opponents but always my friends, and who are now my allies in this effort, thanks to the qualities of their campaigns and the quality of their character, we are the most united Democratic Party that we have ever been at the earliest stage that we have ever been. We are ready to wage a seven-month campaign which takes a vision out to America."

The Democratic Party is still smarting over the 2000 election, which Gore lost to Bush after a dispute over the voting in Florida that was resolved by the Supreme Court.

Democrats also feel anguish over the policies Bush has pursued during his term, including the war in Iraq and an explosion in the federal budget deficit.

"Bush is a polarizing candidate and polarizes voters more than any candidate since Nixon," said Eric Davis, a political science professor at Middlebury College. "There's a strong sense among Democrats that in order to defeat Bush, they have to direct their attacks at him and not at each other." He said Democrats also feel that if Bush reestablishes a Republican foothold on the presidency, while maintaining control of Congress, "he could be comparable to what Roosevelt was for the Democrats in terms of establishing a long-term political agenda for the country."

One attendee at the Chicago fund-raiser contrasted that concern with what she sees from her friends who are Republicans.

"My Republican friends seem to be half asleep. They're just happy to have a Republican in there. They've got their mind on hold," said Margaret McRaith of Evanston, Ill. The 64-year-old yoga teacher recently volunteered for the Kerry campaign. "I've been anxious to get George Bush out since Day One, but now I have a positive feeling about [Kerry] and his wife. I feel energized."

Much of that energy is being harnessed by a broad coalition of groups working to try to remove Bush from the White House. Clinton administration figures such as John Podesta and Harold Ickes are spearheading several of the key operations outside the Kerry campaign.

Podesta started the Center for American Progress, a group that monitors Bush's statements and distributes critiques via e-mail; and Ickes launched the Media Fund, which channels money to anti-Bush ads. Ellen Malcolm, president of Emily's List, and Steve Rosenthal, former political director at the AFL-CIO, began Americans Coming Together, which is focused on voter mobilization this fall, while an umbrella group, America Votes, is coordinating the efforts of more than 30 reform-minded groups, including the Sierra Club.

The Democratic National Committee provided the underpinning for the unity effort, changing its primary calendar with an eye toward producing a nominee by the Super Tuesday contests on March 2 in 10 states. That is precisely what happened, with Kerry emerging as the presumptive nominee from a field that once had 10 candidates.

Last month, the party held a unity dinner in Washington. All the candidates attended except for Representative Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio, who is continuing his candidacy even though Kerry has secured enough delegates to lock up the nomination. Also on stage were former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, as well as Gore.

Kerry's campaign has a department dedicated to preparing and fielding surrogate speakers, an effort that is expected to intensify as figures such as Clinton and Kennedy return to the campaign trail this fall.

Even if Kerry were not the nominee-apparent of the party, Democrats would almost certainly be out in force because of their opposition to Bush's policies and concern over the direction of the country. But Kerry and his staff work to energize supporters once they are in their midst. Speakers at Kerry events routinely blare the Bruce Springsteen anthem "No Surrender." Kerry praises members of the crowd and then urges them to encourage their friends to support the campaign.

He also tries to incite the crowd, predicting a grim future if Bush is reelected, especially if the incumbent is allowed to shift the balance of the Supreme Court through appointments anticipated in the coming years.

"We are going to build the strongest grass-roots movement in the history of our party and the history of this country," Kerry pledged to his Washington audience. "We are going to reach out all across this nation and we are going to remember that this election is the single most important election of our lifetimes."

He said much the same at his Chicago appearance, and the party faithful roared as it had the night before.

Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com.