12-year-old keeps a tight schedule at the convention

She's armed with a cellphone, a nice haircut, and pressed slacks.

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She can talk a mile-a-minute, juggle Jay Leno and David Letterman no less, and chat with a reporter while walking to her next interview.

She even delivered a speech last night that most politicians wait a lifetime to make, and she's touring with the Kerry campaign through the swing states this summer.

She's Ilana Wexler, and she's 12 years old.

Wexler, of Oakland, Calif., founded Kids For Kerry, an organization and Web site that recruits young people to help John Kerry win the presidency.

On Tuesday night, the gregarious red-head delivered a prime-time speech before thousands of delegates and journalists at the Democratic National Convention.

During the speech, Wexler outlined such issues as kids on death row and education. She also chastised Vice President Dick Cheney for using "a really bad word" when he argued with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., on the floor of the US Senate.

"If I said that word I would be put in a timeout. I think he should be in a long timeout," she told the audience.

Wexler started KidsForKerry.org after visiting Central America and Europe last summer when the war in Iraq was heating up. She said people asked her "what's this war thing about?"

"This was pretty sad," she said, "because it was affecting their country and it was affecting a country that didn't do anything," she said.

Wexler's father, Jonathan, helped his daughter rehearse her speech by shining a flashlight in her face. "We're just trying to get the word out about John Kerry," he said, walking fast to keep up with his daughter today as she entered the FleetCenter.

The Web site is online at: www.kidsforkerry.org. However, have patience when trying to access it: all of the publicity she has been getting has swamped the site.