Team comes out swinging

Kerry, Edwards hit Bush role at home, abroad

By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff  |  July 8, 2004

CLEVELAND -- John F. Kerry and John Edwards took to the road yesterday for the first time as Democratic running mates and launched a double-barreled attack on the Bush administration, with Edwards charging that young American soldiers had been needlessly put at risk by President Bush and Kerry accusing the president of being disengaged on domestic issues such as health care and education.

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Edwards said the Massachusetts senator's combat experience in Vietnam meant "he would never leave an American behind" as commander in chief. Under Kerry, he said, "No young American will go to war needlessly."

Kerry fired his own shot at Bush, running through his political agenda for health care, jobs, and education improvements after telling the crowd: "You're not going to have to look for us on vacation. You're going to find us working for America."

President Bush struck back, questioning Edwards's readiness to be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office.

While on a visit to Edwards's hometown of Raleigh, N.C., Bush took aim at both Kerry and Edwards. "I'll do well in the South this time," Bush said, " because the senator from Massachusetts doesn't share their values."

When a reporter asked Bush how Edwards, whose political experience consists of only one term in the Senate, would stack up against Vice President Dick Cheney, Bush said: "Dick Cheney can be president. Next?"

That prompted a rejoinder from Kerry, who told a crowd of thousands on the banks of the Great Miami River in Dayton: "He was wrong in suggesting John Edwards, who has more experience than George Bush and better judgment than he does when he became president of the United States, but I'll tell you what he was right about. He was right that Dick Cheney was ready to take over on Day One, and he did, and he has been ever since, folks, and that's what we've got to change."

The official debut of the Kerry-Edwards ticket yesterday took place before 5,000 supporters gathered in a park overlooking Lake Erie. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee, said his primary campaign against Edwards and eight other candidates had driven his choice for vice president.

"We did more than 31 forums and debates together. We traveled. . . . We saw our staffs talk with each other. . . . That's what this is about. This is about understanding who someone is," Kerry said as Edwards, the candidates' wives, and their children stood behind him. "And I understand that America is going to come to understand who this man is. He represents the best of the hope of our country, the best of opportunity."

Edwards, who took the stage to cheers and chants of "Edwards, Edwards," depicted Kerry, often described as aloof, as a friend of the middle class and a champion of blue-collar communities such as Robbins, N.C., where Edwards was raised.

"The real reason that John Kerry and I are here together is that we share the same values. I'm talking about the values that I grew up with in that small town in North Carolina -- faith, family, opportunity, responsibility, trying to make sure that everybody gets a chance to do what they're capable of doing," he said in his first campaign speech since quitting the presidential race March 3.

Edwards also indicated he would not shy from the attack-dog role that vice presidential candidates often take on. He told the Cleveland crowd: "The truth is that John Kerry has spent his life fighting for America. And I can tell you one thing you can take to the bank: He will always tell the American people the truth." At another point in his remarks, he said, "The truth is, we, America -- we need a president that will lead the world, not bully it."

Edwards also promised that the Democratic campaign would "reject the tired, old, hateful, negative politics" of the Republicans.

The speechmaking kicked off a four-day tour of battleground states that will take the Democratic duo from Ohio to Florida, West Virginia, New Mexico, and North Carolina, with a stop tomorrow in New York City for a gala expected to raise millions for their campaign and party. It also began a carefully staged unveiling of the Democratic ticket that calls for an initial focus on their biographies and a continuation of the optimistic talk that had become a hallmark of Edwards's campaign by its finale.

Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, will appear tonight for a full hour on CNN's "Larry King Live." On Sunday, Kerry and Edwards will appear together on the CBS News program "60 Minutes." Next week, Kerry and Edwards are expected to appear in People magazine and on the cover of Time, which posed the two for a portrait yesterday at Heinz Kerry's farm outside Pittsburgh.

It was in that pastoral setting that the campaign unveiled the Kerry and Edwards families for their first joint public appearance. The two families walked across a long side yard. Kerry and his wife were joined by his daughters, Alexandra, 30, and Vanessa, 27, and two of Heinz Kerry's three sons, Andre, 34, and Chris, 31. Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, were followed by Cate, 22, Emma Claire, 6, and Jack, 4.

After the group posed for a family portrait, Kerry recalled their meeting the previous evening, when Jack and Emma Claire flocked to the swimming pool. "We want to announce today that we have a new campaign manager: Jack Edwards is taking over everything. He does a wild cannonball," Kerry said. After brief remarks, Kerry scooped up the child and ran with him across the lawn. His wife took Emma Claire by the hand. Later, aboard Kerry's campaign plane, an aide laughed while recalling that Jack had said moments earlier, "You know what I'm thinking about? Oreos."

In his remarks, Kerry presented Edwards as ready for the vice presidency, as he did in his announcement a day earlier. Edwards said anyone who doubts Kerry's readiness to be president should talk to the members of his boat crew in the Vietnam War. "If you want to know what kind of man he is, these are men who stand beside him 30 years later, who believe in him, who believe he should be our next president. They want him to be their president. Well, I can say this, for my family, I want him to be our next president," he said.

After Dayton, the group flew to St. Petersburg, Fla., for another rally. There, before another crowd of more than 2,000, Kerry repeated a joke he told all day. Kerry said he and Edwards should be elected because "we have better ideas and a better vision, and we have a better sense of what's happening to people in this country every single day, and we have a sense of right and wrong and what's fair -- and we have better hair."

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

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