Kerry camp strives for a consistent message

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- In one of the few unscripted moments of his day yesterday, John F. Kerry bypassed his waiting car as he left the Louisville Stoneware factory and strode across the parking lot to shake hands with onlookers. Even then, he didn't stray far from his script.

Did he think Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld should resign, asked a Kentucky television reporter. "I've already commented," the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee responded, referring to his call last week for Rumsfeld's resignation over his management of the investigation into abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Another pair of questions yielded similar answers.

For a senator deeply interested in national security issues -- and prone to expound on complex policy -- this was a remarkable effort at staying on message. As much as they can, Kerry and his staff are trying to avoid getting into an endless cycle of commentary on the daily news of the country and the world.

Instead, they are focused on arranging Kerry's travel schedule, the content of his speeches, and the media's access to him with the singular goal of allowing them, not outside events, to set the agenda for his campaign. It is the same practice employed by President Bush and his staff. Often Bush complains about the national news filter, preferring instead to visit with voters around the country and appeal to them through local media outlets. Kerry is trying to circumvent that filter, as well.

"What happens in Washington is very different from what happens in the rest of America," said Kerry's communications director, Stephanie Cutter. "We saw that in the middle of the jobs tour, when people in Washington were talking about John Kerry's medals and people out in America were talking about how to create jobs. We are determined to continue campaigning across America on the issues that matter most. It includes national security, but it also includes how we stop . . . jobs from going overseas, how to provide health care for people who need it, how to improve education."

Yesterday, Kerry kept his focus on the increasing costs of health insurance for small business owners. Louisville Stoneware has been in business since 1815 producing so-called functional art, handmade and handpainted pieces such as water pitchers and pine cone welcome figurines, but it has had to trim its work force by 18 in recent years, due, in part, to its rising health insurance bill.

Anthony Urbaites, the company's chief executive, told a roundtable panel assembled by the Kerry campaign that he now spends more than $200,000 a year to provide health insurance for his 63 employees, who pay 25 percent of the premiums themselves. A local plumber talked about having to accept a $2,500 deductible for his employees in order to maintain their coverage, the cost of which has increased 75 percent in the past five years.

"In order for us to be able to continue to grow successfully and be able to increase our profitability, we need to be able to manage our healthcare costs," Urbaites told Kerry, as reporters were steered into concentrating on the campaign's chosen theme of the day.

Kerry struck a populist tone as he highlighted the elements of his healthcare plan focused on small businesses. They include allowing small businesses to buy into the same health plan provided to members of Congress, offering businesses a 50 percent federal tax deduction if they will cover their low- and moderate-income employees, and trimming overall premiums by removing so-called catastrophic cases over $50,000 and placing them in a federal insurance pool, where the government will cover 75 percent of the cost.

Recalling his own successful treatment last year for prostate cancer, the senator told the crowd: "I'm a United States senator, and guess what? Senators and congressman have given themselves great health care, thanks to you all. So, we need to make certain that's the gold standard for the country."

Later, he added, "We can't be a society that is the only industrial society in the world that doesn't understand healthcare is not a privilege for the wealthy, or the elected, or the connected; it's a right, and we have to make it affordable and accessible to all Americans."

The president's reelection campaign accused Kerry of focusing on healthcare issues only in election years, citing an example during his 1996 campaign when Kerry claimed credit for introducing a child healthcare bill more than three months before he actually filed the legislation.

"Kerry's rhetoric on healthcare is at odds with his blank record on the issue," said Bush-Cheney campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt.

"He opposed reforms that would make health care more affordable for ordinary Americans and opposed a prescription drug benefit for seniors," Schmidt added, citing the senator's recent decision to skip a vote on a bill that established a prescription drug benefit under the federal Medicare program.

Kerry's commitment to sticking to his message has led him to limit any formal interaction with the national press corps that accompanies him on his campaign plane. Last week, he held his first news conference in three weeks, but only after the release of photos of the Iraq prisoner abuse.

His prior commentary, which included only a written statement from his campaign and a brief comment aboard his plane calling the abuse disgraceful, prompted some Democrats to complain that he had not used the issue to highlight his differences with the Bush administration.

"We're going to do availabilities with the national media when we feel it's appropriate," said Cutter. "How often did George Bush do availabilities in 2000? My understanding is he didn't do them very often."

Besides a hospital visit and the Stoneware tour yesterday, Kerry's only other public events were a fund-raiser in Louisville and a rally in Jacksonville, Fla.

Mary Beth Cahill, Kerry's campaign manager, sent supporters e-mail seeking donations to avoid a spring swoon in advertising. It will be followed by a string of similar e-mail appeals from party luminaries, including one today by Bill Clinton.

"George Bush is counting on our March-April momentum to die in May," Cahill wrote. "May is often when the wind leaves the sails of presidential campaigns, too long after the primaries and too long before the convention. What we've got to do is pick up the oars and start rowing. We need a `Miracle in May.' You can make it happen by forwarding our e-mails this week and next and reaching out to your family and friends."

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