Edwards promises ‘hope is on way’

BOSTON – John Kerry was nominated as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate Wednesday night after running mate John Edwards praised the Massachusetts senator as a decisive and battle-tested leader and urged voters to embrace the politics of hope over what he called a low-road campaign by the Republicans.

Vowing “no retreat, no surrender,” Kerry swept into this convention city late Wednesday morning, surrounded by a dozen Vietnam War crewmates aboard a ship in Boston Harbor. He then yielded the spotlight to Edwards, who was his last major rival in the Democratic primary battle and the popular choice within the party to team with Kerry in the campaign ahead against President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Edwards quickly showed off the rhetorical skills that carried him from the plaintiff’s bench to the Senate and eventually to the thick of the Democratic race, promising that “hope is on the way” as he pledged that Kerry would keep the country safe, fix the nation’s intelligence capabilities, expand access to health care, create jobs and heal the country’s racial and economic divisions.

Republicans “are doing all they can to take this campaign for the highest office in the land down the lowest possible road,” he said. “This is where you come in. Between now and November, you – the American people – you can reject the tired, old, hateful, negative politics of the past. And instead you can embrace the politics of hope, the politics of what’s possible, because this is America, where everything is possible.”

Edwards never mentioned Bush or Cheney by name – a departure from the traditional vice presidential role of leading the attack against the opposition. But he outlined a Democratic agenda that drew a sharp contrast with that of the Bush administration and vouched for Kerry’s character and values, saying, “John understands personally about fighting in a war.”

In a speech that repeatedly brought the delegates to their feet with applause, Edwards melded his own values and the message that carried him through the primaries with Kerry’s biography and policy vision for the country. The senator, who as a lawyer was lauded for simplifying the complicated, tried Wednesday night to reach the nation’s middle class by outlining his own modest upbringing, harking back to his message of “two Americas” – the haves and have-nots – and offering hope to the struggling.

The speech was long on promises, but did not address how Kerry would deal with the big budget deficits run up under Bush or the looming challenge of financing major entitlements programs like Social Security and Medicare.

Edwards decried the fact that the United States has two health care systems, two education systems and two economies – one for the very wealthy, the other for most other Americans — and vowed that if he and Kerry are elected, “we can build one America.” In so doing, he laid the foundation to detail Kerry economic and national security proposals, and portray the Massachusetts senator as a man who was tested in war and is ready to lead.

The Democrats scripted the third day of their convention to highlight Kerry’s military service as part of the weeklong effort to introduce their candidate to the country and demonstrate that he is fit to become commander in chief.

In addition to the show of support from his swift boat crewmates, Kerry was saluted from the podium by retired Army Gen. John Shalikashvili, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said Kerry understands the dangers of the current world “and is fully prepared for the challenges ahead.”

Shalikashvili was then joined by a group of retired military officers, including retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, all of whom have endorsed Kerry’s candidacy, as the audience waved American flags and chanted “USA, USA.”

Kerry was awarded his party’s nomination well past the end of television prime time on Wednesday and spent part of the day working on the acceptance speech he will give today, a speech that advisers recognize as one of the most important of his political careerIn a change from past conventions, Edwards will be formally nominated today, but Wednesday night belonged to him and his vigorous address in support of Kerry.

Edwards promised that he and Kerry would create more jobs, stop tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, raise the minimum wage, expand access to health care, lower health insurance premiums and reorient the tax code to help working Americans. “We’re going to reward work, not just wealth,” he said.

With Republicans charging that Kerry’s election would mean tax increases for most Americans, Edwards vowed that 98 percent of all Americans would continue to receive the tax cuts they have received under Bush and that only the wealthiest would see their taxes increase. He also said Kerry would close corporate tax loopholes and cut wasteful spending.

Turning to national security, Edwards continued to challenge the administration. “We are approaching the third anniversary of September 11th,” he said of the attacks, “and I can tell you when we’re in office, it won’t take us three years to get the reforms in our intelligence that are necessary to keep the American people safe. We will do whatever it takes, as long as it takes, to make sure that never happens again in our America.”

Edwards vowed that Kerry would pursue al Qaeda and other terrorists relentlessly. “We will have one clear unmistakable message for al Qaeda and these terrorists,” he said. “You cannot run. You cannot hide. We will destroy you.”

But he drew a contrast with the Bush administration by saying that Kerry would rebuild U.S. alliances and use renewed respect for the United States to gain support from NATO to help secure Iraq. “We will get this done right,” he said.

Several of Kerry’s other primary opponents used their speeches to praise the man who defeated them and to condemn Bush and his policies.

Al Sharpton drew a rousing response when he forcefully challenged Bush’s argument last week before the Urban League that the Democratic Party takes black voters for granted. But Sharpton said that Republicans turned their backs on black voters years ago, and that it was Democrats who fought for and delivered civil rights and voting rights.

“Our vote was soaked in the blood of martyrs, soaked in the blood of good men, soaked in the blood of four little girls in Birmingham. This vote is sacred to us.” With applause rising from the convention floor, Sharpton shouted, “This vote can’t be bargained away. This vote can’t be given away. Mr. President, in all due respect, Mr. President, read my lips: Our vote is not for sale.”

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, one of the most vociferous opponents of the war in Iraq, said Bush misled the country. “Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11 or with al Qaeda’s role in 9-11,” he said. “We have found no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.”

Then reprising lines from his campaign, he added, “I’ve seen weapons of mass destruction in our cities. Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction. Joblessness is a weapon of mass destruction. Homelessness is a weapon of mass destruction. Racism is a weapon of mass destruction. Fear is a weapon of mass destruction. We must disarm these weapons.”

Florida Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., also took a shot at the administration on the national security front, saying the country has failed to stand up to new terrorist threats. “At a time when freedom-loving people around the world are looking for leadership in the war against terror, America has not provided it,” he said.