Dems Swoop Down On Boston
Democratic delegates and demonstrators of all stripes have descended on the heavily fortified convention city of Boston, where campaign officials say Sen. John Kerry's main challenge is to persuade voters just tuning into the race to hand him the White House in an age of terrorism.
"It's very much a get-to-know-you process," said spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter at the same time Kerry's convention scriptwriters labored to find the combination of words, symbols and images to make the perfect introduction.
Kerry, who runs even to slightly ahead of President Bush in pre-convention polls, campaigned slowly toward a convention city that has nurtured his career for decades.
"John Edwards and I are determined that we are going to be champions for the middle class, the folks who built this country," he told an audience in Sioux City, Iowa, the state whose caucuses put him on the path to the nomination.
"We go to Boston, to the birthplace of the revolution of America and the possibilities of the future. And from there we go to the White House."
Kerry popped into Boston for a brief surprise appearance Sunday night at the Yankees-Red Sox game, throwing out the first pitch at Fenway Park.
The rest of the Kerry family welcomed delegates to Boston Sunday night. Teresa Heinz Kerry turned on the charm for delegates for Pennsylvania, as her son Chris Heinz checked out the lay of the land at the convention center, as did Kerry daughters Vanessa and Alexandra, before heading over to the Rock the Vote party aimed at energizing younger Democrats.
The convention is the country's first since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the security precautions showed it.
For the next four days, Boston will have a touch of Guantanamo Bay, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Axelrod. The convention site perimeter is secured by razor wire, barricades and patrolling National Guardsmen. F-16'S are in the air, armed boats are in the water and military vehicles are on the bank of the Charles River.
Air Force Maj. Eric Butterbaugh, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colo., said that fighter pilots would be on patrol over Boston, but would not give specifics.
"For all the things you can see, imagine what you can't see. Double that and that's our capability," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Lisa Hennings. "I wouldn't want to mess with us."
The Coast Guard has said it planned to use infrared and night-vision cameras in Boston Harbor and to randomly board commercial ships for security checks.
Even before the convention opens, protesters were making their voices heard Sunday on everything from opposition to the war in Iraq to advocating for jobs, housing and health care.
Hundreds of protesters gathered on the historic Boston Common, site of many of the city's most memorable demonstrations. From there they marched toward the FleetCenter.
About 30 state police officers wearing riot gear lined Beacon Street as protesters marched, carrying a banner reading, "Bring the troops home now." A half dozen cruisers and 18 police vans followed slowly along the parade route, and representatives of the National Lawyers Guild and other civil libertarians accompanied the march, wearing hats reading "legal observer."
The diverse crowd ranged from teens to war veterans. They carried flags, banners and signs reading, "Health care, not warfare," and "Veterans for Peace."
Former president Bill Clinton has the spotlight on Day One of the convention. The prime-time speech by Mr. Clinton was to cap a first night of the convention focused on Kerry's stated vision for America: a strong economy, a growing middle class, affordable health care and a beefed-up military.
Clinton's wife, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, will introduce the former president.
"I think that this convention is going to really provide Americans with some insight and understanding about John Kerry and John Edwards, which will tip the balance," Mrs. Clinton told CBS News Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm. "I mean, we're going to win, and I just want them to win with as big a margin as possible.
"I am 100 percent behind John Kerry. I have worked with him in the Senate. I knew him before the Senate. I just want Americans who haven't made up their minds to know him as I know him. To know that he's a serious, thoughtful and effective leader who is going to be a great president for our country."
Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy will speak of Kerry's experience as a Vietnam War veteran at the convention Tuesday night.
"John Kerry's candidacy is a candidacy of strength (and) one of hope," Kennedy told the Early Show. "He has been to war. He understands war. He's a decorated war hero, and I think Americans feel well in terms of his desire to protect the homeland."
Kerry will be back on the campaign trail again Monday, making his way back to Boston on Wednesday. Several officials have said there are plans for Kerry to speak to the delegates by remote hookup on Tuesday night, when his wife Teresa takes her speaking turn at the convention podium.
Convention planners intend to present Kerry as a decorated Vietnam veteran, prosecutor and senator, and use his biography to depict him as a man who has served the country in a variety of ways.
Jim Rassman, who credits Kerry with saving his life in Vietnam decades ago, will speak to the convention Thursday night. Former Democratic Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, a Vietnam veteran who lost three limbs on the battlefield, will deliver the formal introduction speech.
CBS News Correspondent Cynthia Bowers reports that Democrats acknowledge that in order for the convention to be a success, Kerry has to define himself as something other than just not being President Bush.
The focus will be on Kerry and his agenda, said one strategist, who contended that there was no need to assail Mr. Bush because continuing violence in post-war Iraq and an economy still emerging from a slump was undercutting the president.