On defense, a Democratic offensive

After two days of focusing on core domestic issues, the Democratic National Convention yesterday began in earnest to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing Senator John Kerry this fall: convincing voters that he can protect America in the age of terrorism by taking a different approach than President Bush.

Kerry's military service in Vietnam, pledges to re-emphasize engagement with allies, and calls to shore up holes in homeland defenses have been common, if secondary, themes in convention speeches this week. But beginning yesterday, the party turned to addressing what Kerry advisers and Democratic security experts say is the perception among much of the electorate that Democrats don't stack up with the Republicans on national security.

"We understand that we must convince the American people that not only can [Kerry] provide justice for the American people but he can provide for a secure America," retired General Wesley K. Clark, the former NATO commander and presidential candidate now supporting Kerry, told the Globe yesterday. "I think it's starting."

The campaign brought out the big guns yesterday, announcing the endorsement of a dozen retired generals and admirals. The convention allotted prime-time speaking slots to retired General John Shalikashvili, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and retired Lieutenant General Claudia J. Kennedy, the former Army intelligence chief and highest-ranking woman ever in the Army.

In his prime-time address, Shalikashvili spoke to Kerry's experience as a soldier and told the delegates that, "I stand before you this evening because I believe that no one will be more resolute in defending America nor in pursuing terrorists than John Kerry.

"He knows from experience a commander's responsibility to his troops," the retired general said. "He stands with our troops and with their families and that is why I stand with John Kerry."

Democrats acknowledge that they have some catching up to do on the issues of homeland defense and military affairs, at least in voters' minds.

Asked what is the single most important question that the Kerry campaign has to answer to win over independent voters, adviser Tad Devine said: "Is Kerry strong enough to defend the nation?" He said a major portion of Kerry's prime-time address today will be devoted to answering that question.

"We are the party out of power, and we have to do a better job explaining to the American people the failure of the administration on this issue," said Representative Norm Dicks of Washington, a leading Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee and one of the party's more hawkish members. "We could have done a lot more in these three years."

For Kerry, the challenge is to convincingly argue why a new approach to foreign and defense policy is required and what that strategy will be in terms that can resonate with voters, who advisers say remain confused on key issues: Kerry's stance on Iraq -- a war he voted for but says he would have prosecuted differently -- and what he would specifically do to defend against terrorism and reduce the growth of Islamic extremism.

Kerry must also make his case in a way that neutralizes the Bush administration's tough talk on national security.

President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are making it clear on the campaign trail that they will argue their stance on the war against terrorism and the guerrilla war in Iraq is the only way to guarantee American security.

"We will vanquish our enemies," Cheney told an audience this week in the stark terms the White House and its surrogates often use on the campaign trail.

The challenge to Democrats is compounded by strong antiwar sentiments that dominate certain segments of the party -- sentiments that were on display this week when several hundred antiwar and civil libertarian protesters staged a rally at Copley Plaza against the Bush administration's detention policies.

Speakers stood in front of a large sign that read "Human Rights for Detainees: From Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib." Two men started playing the drums and a flute. College students in Guantanamo-inspired orange jumpsuits stood behind mock jail bars. Some protesters weren't happy with the Democrats. A key organizer, United for Justice with Peace, has denounced Kerry's position on Iraq because he opposes pulling troops out immediately.

But all over Boston yesterday, Kerry's foot soldiers were on the move making the Massachusetts senator's case.

Clark, Kennedy, and Representatives Ike Skelton of Missouri, top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, and John Murtha of Pennsylvania, ranking Democrat on the defense appropriations subcommittee, discussed Kerry's national security credentials and his plan to internationalize Iraq during a forum at Suffolk University Law School.

Skelton took to the convention floor later in the afternoon to tell delegates that Kerry -- war hero and 20-year foreign policy expert in the Senate -- has more experience in defending America than any presidential candidate since Dwight D. Eisenhower, who led the allied victory in Europe in World War II.

Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas said the message-shapers decided on a strategy of establishing a "comfort level" with the public in the first couple of days by showing that "we mean good and are not divisive" before shifting the focus to a hard-core homeland and national security message similar to the one that Kerry himself is expected to deliver.

She said that the lasting memory of the convention will be "a strong commander-in-chief who is not afraid of war and not afraid to fight terrorism."

However, she said that if the public "doesn't get it" by this weekend, the party will "certainly have lost ground."