After a full-bore attack on George W. Bush, Democrats here turned Tuesday to the job of selling their presidential candidate John Kerry to a US electorate still filled with many questions. Some 5,000 delegates went into the second day of their four-day national convention fired up by ex-president Bill Clinton and other speakers Monday who roasted the Republican Bush on issues from Iraq to the economy.
They began the task Tuesday of presenting Kerry as an alternative, with a host of testimonials and biographical material scheduled to highlight his leadership skills as a Vietnam war hero, public prosecutor and veteran senator.
Polls show the convention coming at a critical time for Kerry, who appears to be losing ground to Bush in several areas head of the November 2 election and has yet to fully define his image and message.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll released Tuesday showed that if Kerry was running neck and neck with Bush, 54 percent of Americans were still unfamiliar with his positions. Among Democrats alone, the percentage was 46 percent.