Dems Come Together Over Kerry

By David Paul Kuhn,
CBSNews.com Chief Political Writer

Dean chanted Kerry's name, in his growled baritone. Kerry actually said Dean's energy made him want to say, "Dean for President." This on the eve of a Democratic banquet where the top-tier former candidates, as well as two past presidents, will effectively coronate Kerry as this year's nominee and the new leader of the Democratic Party.

Kerry desired Dean's backing because of the weight the former Vermont governor and onetime campaign frontrunner has among left-of-left Democrats. Thursday, Dean pledged to utilize his group, Democracy for America, to elect Kerry because Americans "desperately need a change."

"Our folks are very independent-minded people; you don't tell 700,000 folks, or whatever it is, this is how you're going to do it," Dean told CBS News. "I'm going to appeal to their reason. We got in this race together because nobody would stand up to George Bush."

Indeed, Dean was the first Democratic candidate to directly challenge President Bush on matters of national security and the economy, at a time when many in the party had been all but politically cowed. The former Vermont governor caught onto a growing anti-war, anti-Bush sentiment among liberals.

Dean emboldened Kerry. He showed him that standing up against President Bush was necessary to rally Democrats and that he would not necessarily dissuade those coveted independent voters by doing such.

Yet nearly half the public (47 percent) believe the campaign, in general, is too negative, according to a Pew Research Center national poll released Thursday afternoon. That same poll found that 63 percent of Americans think it matters more who wins the 2004 presidential election this year, compared with 45 percent who expressed that view in June 2000.

In a bad sign for Kerry, 48 percent of those polled think that the presumptive Democratic nominee has been too personally critical of President Bush, while 33 percent say Bush has been too personally critical of Kerry.

"Bush will close that gap, don't worry," said Bill Carrick, a senior Democratic strategist who advised Rep. Richard Gephardt in his failed presidential bid. "Kerry is going to be vigilant in making sure people understand who he is, what he's about and where he wants to take the country."

Thursday night's Unity Dinner will mark the close of Kerry's first day back on the campaign trail after nearly a week of vacation in Sun Valley, Idaho. More than $10 million is expected to be raised at the fundraiser, which former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, as well as 2000 candidate Al Gore are scheduled to attend.

"This sends a very strong message and it is happening much earlier than it normally happens; it's all good for Kerry," Carrick said. "Usually at this time candidates are still sorting out the primary squabbling."

All this comes on a day when Kerry picked up the endorsement of the 1.3 million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which had previously backed Dean. AFSCME, considered the most racially diverse of unions, had added a great deal of momentum to the Dean candidacy and deflated his campaign when it withdrew its support last month.

Thursday's dinner is the kickoff of an intense fund-raising drive and series of speeches clarifying Kerry's positions on major policy issues. The Kerry campaign hopes to raise more than $80 million by late July, the time of the Democratic convention, to compete with Mr. Bush, who has raised more than $160 million already.

By David Paul Kuhn