Kerry's Time To Shine

By David Paul Kuhn,
CBSNews.com Chief Political Writer

But before that, the Democratic Party will have its party, a four-day convention and pep rally, a chance to hold the bully pulpit, if only for a week.

To be sure, this is no normal Democratic Party that will bring thousands of delegates, journalists and activists to the cobblestone streets of Boston. It is a more pragmatic, more emboldened, more energized and certainly more united party than it has been for almost 40 years.

Taking place under unprecedented security, the Democratic National Convention, which begins Monday, will be a massive spectacle with few surprises, some significant speeches by powerful politicians and much, much glitz.

Ex-presidents will rally the party, key senators will speak, a wife will try to humanize her husband and a vice-presidential nominee will try to woo the South. But when the parties are done and the speeches have been made, the convention's focus comes down to Kerry. After three decades in politics, he will have to make the speech of his life. And he knows it.

John Kerry must succinctly tell voters why he deserves to lead these United States, why he is a better choice than President Bush.

Kerry doesn't need to blow the room away with his oratory, a la former President Bill Clinton or ex-New York Gov. Mario Cuomo. But he better not fumble. And he hopes - his party prays – he can find some Clinton or Cuomo in him.

But it begins with the parties. On Sunday night, MTV's Rock the Vote welcomes those Hollywood liberals Republicans love to hate, Boston's mayor holds his official shindig and each state delegation toast its state.

What follows are four days that offer the full array of Democratic leadership, past, present and future.

"If you are attentive, and listen to all things said at Democratic and Republican conventions, you can sort out very clear differences between the parties," said Stephen Hess, a presidential historian at the Brookings Institution. "They are an opportunity to see and hear politicians in long form."
Monday night, the old guard (and one new) will speak: Vice President Al Gore, former President Jimmy Carter, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and the Democratic Dapper Don himself, former President Bill Clinton.

Will Hillary Clinton's star shine? Will Bill Clinton soar to new oratorical heights? Will Al Gore repeat his furious attacks on the president, or will the Kerry campaign rein in some of Gore's fury?

Tuesday night features former Gov. Howard Dean, who six months ago seemed sure to be speaking Thursday night instead of Kerry as the party's nominee. But now, Dean will have a bit part, along with a dozen other party leaders.

Later Tuesday, a Democratic elder statesman, Sen. Edward Kennedy, and a young rising star, Illinois Senate candidate Barack Obama, will take the stage, offering a glimpse of party past and future.

And finally, the night's most unpredictable speaker: the candidate's wife, the rich, genuine but often-quirky Teresa Heinz Kerry.

"Wives can humanize these politicians we all see as one dimensional," said political analyst Stu Rothenberg, editor of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report. "What you hear on both sides of the aisle is this tittering, 'Is she going to humanize or not humanize?'"

Wednesday is all about John Edwards. Kerry selected the North Carolina as his running mate for his charm, optimism, compelling biography and ability to reach middle-class voters.

We will hear about Edwards' rags to riches life story. We will hear about the "two Americas." And most certainly, we will see that optimistic smile, as he leaves the stage reaching his right arm up in hope.

But will he be glib? Will we get content? Will he be critical of President Bush? And will we be seeing the start of the 2008 presidential race, pitting Edwards' speech against Hillary Clinton's on Monday night, should Kerry lose on November 2.

Finally, on Thursday, America will meet John Kerry. Polls show one third of Americans still do not know him. The speech is his nationwide introduction.

There will be a biographical video – expect to hear about the "Band of Brothers," his shipmates in Vietnam – and an introduction from former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland. The triple-amputee fellow Vietnam veteran will champion his friend as strong on national security.

"Most people have only seen Kerry as some snippet on the evening news and now they will get to see him in a full-blown speech," said presidential historian Hess. "Presumably this speech will be what he wants to say, even if he has craftsman helping him form the words.

"The whole convention has a manufactured quality, the buntings, the cheering, the forced humor," Hess continued. "But this speech will be what Kerry wants us to hear. The nominee's speech is the one thing left at these conventions that is important."