For Dems, Boston A Hub Of Activity
As Sen. John Kerry campaigned in Florida, Democratic convention delegates in Boston prepared for an evening of speeches focused on his stated vision for America: a strong economy, a growing middle class, affordable health care and a beefed-up military.
Convention planners say they intend to present Kerry as a decorated Vietnam War 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.
Former president Bill Clinton's wife, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, will introduce the former president, who is the featured speaker on Day One of the convention.
"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."
This year's convention is the first since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and police and military authorities already had revved up.
For the next four days, Boston will have a touch of Guantanamo Bay, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Axelrod.
Camouflaged military police kept watch on elevated rail lines overlooking the FleetCenter, the sports arena where 4,350 delegates will gather through Thursday. Helicopters circled overhead constantly.
Bomb-sniffing dogs and officers with guns patrolled nearby streets. Metal barricades about 7 feet high directed foot traffic and limited access to the FleetCenter. Numerous roads will be closed during the convention, and authorities braced for gridlock Monday as commuters seek alternate routes to and from work.
But despite the precautions and the terrorism threat, the convention's message was relentlessly upbeat, underscoring the unity behind Kerry as the man Democrats hope will deny President Bush a second term.
No platform fight loomed, and the relative lack of President Bush-bashing was a strategy conceived in part because of polls indicating Kerry's Democratic base is already solidly behind him. The relatively small portion of undecided voters instead wants to hear more about him and his plans.
"This is going to be the most harmonious convention we've had in years," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the convention chairman, said Sunday.
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.
Kerry was back on the campaign trail again Monday. He'll make 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 Heinz Kerry takes her speaking turn at the convention podium.
On Sunday night, Kerry, who runs even to slightly ahead of President Bush in pre-convention polls, popped into Boston for a brief surprise appearance 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. — His wife Teresa 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.
And there were no apologies from the Kerry camp after Heinz Kerry told a Pittsburgh newspaper editor to "Shove it" Sunday after she claimed he misquoted her.
Heinz Kerry had given a speech urging fellow Pennsylvanians to turn back "sometimes un-American traits" creeping into politics.
When the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Colin McNickle asked her what she meant by "un-American," she said she "didn't say that" — and later told him, "You said something I didn't say. Now shove it."
Even before the convention opens, protesters were making their voices heard on everything from opposition to the war in Iraq to advocating for jobs, housing and health care.
Protests remained mostly scattered. Two groups — about 3,000 protesting mainly against the Iraq war and about 1,000 abortion opponents — exchanged angry words blocks from the Fleet Center on Sunday. A few anti-abortion protesters lay in fetal positions in the street as fellow protesters drew chalk outlines around them.
Among the rallies, parties and receptions planned Monday was one featuring documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, whose Bush-bashing "Fahrenheit 9/11" movie just passed the $100 million mark, the first documentary ever to top that milestone at the domestic box office.
In keeping with tradition, Bush is spending the next several days out of the public eye at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.