President Kerry?

After the strongest speech he has ever given, the Democrat candidate is starting to convince America he can oust George Bush. Paul Harris reports from Boston

The fireworks exploded in the night sky and illuminated John Kerry dancing on the stage next to Boston harbour. It was way past midnight and he had delivered the most important speech of his life.

The man who would be president punched the air and gleefully pointed at the colourful explosions like a teenager. As the theme from Star Wars blared out at the public party, his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, laughed and mimed playing a violin. Their children looked on in celebration.

The Kerrys had every reason for feeling pleased with themselves. The Democrats had just completed one of the most remarkable conventions in their recent history. Normally famed for squabbling, the party united solidly behind Kerry. From left to right internal critics morphed into firm supporters. The party draped itself in patriotism and the heroism of Kerry’s Vietnam record.

It was a stunning turnaround. Just a year ago, as Democrat activists scanned an unknown and fractious field of contenders, it seemed Kerry and his ilk were battling only for the right to lose to President George Bush. Kerry, if he won the nomination, would be a sacrificial lamb.

What a difference a year makes. Democrats have energised and united as Republican woes have piled up. Now talk of President Kerry does not seem ridiculous. Some experts see it as likely. Democrats now genuinely expect to win. Kerry’s convention, seen as a crucial test, has finally introduced him to the national American audience. Many may have liked what they saw.

But in reality the fight is far from over. Though Kerry was late to bed on the Thursday night after his speech, he rose at dawn from his mansion in the plush Beacon Hill district at Boston’s heart. Before morning was over on Friday Kerry was already hundreds of miles away, in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, hitting the campaign trail on a two-week tour across the mid-west swing states that will decide his fate. He hopes it is a road that will lead to the White House.

If Kerry wins it is men like Bob McLane who will have sealed his victory. Wearing a camouflage jacket, McLane stood up in front of a room packed with Vietnam veterans who had come to Boston to campaign for their former comrade-in-arms. ’Welcome home, brother,’ one veteran called. ’It is good to be home, brother,’ McLane replied.

McLane’s voice then quivered with emotion as he detailed his tour of duty in the Vietnam killing ground of Khe Sanh. He praised Kerry’s service and later stance against the war. ’He stood up to tell the world about the war that he saw at his own hands,’ McLane said. He appealed for veterans to get out and vote and then said bluntly: ’I am going to a swing state.’ He turned on his heel to leave the room, the applause ringing out behind him.

Like no other Democrat candidate, Kerry has wrapped himself in the respect veterans such as McLane command in America. Specifically, Kerry’s service in Vietnam has become the defining idea of portraying Democrats as strong on defence. It is a powerful tool, especially when compared to the dubious national service of his rival Bush. ’Kerry is not your typical Democrat challenger,’ said his foreign policy advisor Susan Rice. ’He is a decorated, battle-hardened veteran. He understands war.’

Vietnam and the three Purple Hearts Kerry won while commanding river boats there dominated the convention. Pictures of Kerry in uniform covered the walls. A nine minute video, produced with the help of Steven Spielberg, used it as a centrepiece to tell Kerry’s story.

It was a clever move. Kerry’s record in Vietnam neutralises the Democrats’ traditional weakness of being seen as soft on defence. It also helps flesh Kerry out as a person. His former crewmates, whom Kerry refers to as his ’Band of Brothers’, travel everywhere with him and were a regular feature at the convention. They speak movingly of their ex-commander. ’We were all with John Kerry in that damn stupid war. For the 30 years I have known John Kerry he has never lied to me,’ said Del Sandusky, a shipmate aboard Kerry’s PCF-94 boat.

Kerry’s family have also played a role in trying to put across a fuller picture of ’John Kerry the man’ both to convention delegates and a wider America. At one meeting of women delegates last week Kerry’s wife and two sisters gave speeches. They were backed up by John Edwards’s wife, Elizabeth, and their daughter Cate. The convention was a family affair.

In Boston Kerry’s relatives were deployed as never before. His daughters, Vanessa and Alexandra, were regular speakers. They helped introduce their father with childhood stories. Kerry’s stepsons, Chris and Andre Heinz, were also regulars at breakfast meetings, lunches and dinners. They all embraced Vietnam. In her speech to the convention, Alexandra Kerry recounted stealing upstairs as a child to read her father’s Vietnam letters. ’Who knew a 23-year-old could have seen so much, so young?’ she said.

But there is another war that got less attention at the Democrat convention. That is the conflict in Iraq in which Fernando Suarez lost his soldier son, Jesus. Suarez was not shy about mentioning Iraq and he had a message for Kerry in Boston. ’My son died. For what? Because Bush lied. Pay attention Mr Kerry. The people watch your actions,’ he said.

But Suarez was not a speaker at the convention. He was at a peace rally on Boston Common a mile and a half away. Inside the hall itself and at countless convention meetings very few strayed off the simple message: don’t mention the war. That was an astonishing achievement. Polls show that 93 per cent of delegates in Boston were against the war, far more than most Americans. Iraq has been the most dominant and divisive issue in American politics for a generation. It is the reason behind much of the Democrat hatred for Bush. It is the main reason why Democrats are so energised to win.

But both Kerry and Edwards voted for the war. Speaking out strongly now would seem hypocritical and it would also open them up to Republican attacks on their patriotism. A spat over Iraq could shatter the carefully built up picture of strength on national security. Democrats at all levels have made the decision to back Kerry in the belief that he can win. Speeches were vetted and dissent was not tolerated.

’It is taboo. The war is why I am here but it is an issue only for the outspoken,’ said Democrat activist Vanessa Chapeton. Mentions of Iraq, which became more common towards the end of the week, stuck to the line of supporting the troops and criticising only the lack of intelligence and ineffective post-war planning. The message was ruthlessly enforced.

Almost. Even in Boston cracks in the newly unified edifice of the Democratic party did appear. It was only a few minutes into Reverend. Al Sharpton’s speech that the main teleprompter began to whirr up and down. The operators should have saved themselves the trouble. Sharpton was not reading from his speech. Scheduled for just six minutes, Sharpton spoke for 20. He shattered the unspoken ’no Bush-bashing’ rule and launched broadside after broadside against Bush. ’In all due respect, Mr President,’ Sharpton exhorted. ’Read my lips: Our vote is not for sale!’ As top Democrats fumed, Sharpton was given a standing ovation. The anger in the party still boils below the surface.

Dissent was elsewhere too. At a meeting with film-maker Michael Moore and Kerry’s ex-rival Howard Dean so many people turned up that 700 were locked out. Dean was introduced with the words: ’Welcome to the alternative Democratic party convention’.

Away from party handlers, Dean joked about the situation. ’No one is calling the President a fascist. You can’t do that. Well, not this week anyway,’ he laughed. Dean was mobbed by the throng, many of whom had flocked to his anti-war campaign when he was the frontrunner. ’We like Kerry, we will work for Kerry. But we love Howard Dean,’ said delegate Maggie Hanson. On her T-shirt she wore a sticker that said: ’I am in an arranged marriage with John Kerry.’ Back inside the convention hall Dean did his duty. He backed Kerry all the way.

The simple fact is that Democrats are so desperate to beat Bush that they have swallowed their differences. They know the elusive swing voters scattered in a handful of key states want moderation, not aggression. That is why another key theme of the convention was the relentless stress on optimism. In a nation starkly divided 50-50, the middle ground has to be won with smiles not shouts.

But as John Kerry travels America over the next two weeks he knows there are signs of hope. Republicans have decried the lack of huge bounce in the polls emerging from the convention. But in this election year, many voters have already made up their mind and most experts expected little movement.

In fact, by going in to his convention ahead of Bush, Kerry is already in a strong position. In the last 50 years only three challengers have entered their convention ahead of an incumbent president. All of them won. Kerry may not have to persuade America to love him, just to see him as a safe pair of hands.

Yet there is a long way to go. Polls show many voters have grave doubts about Bush but they remain unsure of his opponent. It is a problem for the Democrats that they have united, not out of love for Kerry but out of dislike of Bush.

The battleground states are still up for grabs. Bush will hold his convention in New York at the end of August. His formidable election machine has also hit the road. Bush will rarely leave the campaign trail for the next four weeks. Kerry concluded his convention speech with simple words addressed to the undecided: ’I will work my heart out. But, my fellow citizens, the outcome is in your hands more than mine.’

We are family: how electoral success is all relative

Americans are long used to relatives of their election candidates hitting the campaign trail, but John Kerry and John Edwards use their families like never before. Their large clan of wives, siblings, daughters and sons are now an ever-present factor in their bid to win the White House.

Teresa Heinz Kerry

* Wife of John Kerry

* Africa-born head of one of America’s largest charities.

* Aged 65.

Chris Heinz

* Son of Teresa Heinz Kerry and stepson to John Kerry.

* Once dated Gywneth Paltrow. Close adviser to campaign.

* Aged 31.

Andre Heinz

* Another stepson to John Kerry. Famous on the campaign for his Arnold Schwarzenegger impressions.

* Swedish-based environmental consultant.

* Aged 34.

Alexandra Kerry

* Kerry’s brunette daughter with his first wife, Julia Thorne.

* Actress and film-maker. Making a documentary on her father.

* Aged 30.

Vanessa Kerry

* Sister of Alexandra. A Harvard medical student.

* Told the convention a story of her dad rescuing her pet hamster.

* Aged 27.

Elizabeth Edwards

* Wife of John Edwards who is an accomplished lawyer as well as mother-of-four.

* Had two more children after accidental death of son Wade, aged 16.

* Aged 55.

Cate Edwards

* Daughter of John and Elizabeth Edwards.

* Recent graduate of Princeton.

* Aged 22.

Emma Claire and Jack

* Children born to the Edwards family after death of Wade.

* Popular and cute campaign props who have become overwhelmingly famous on the campaign trail.

* Emma Claire is 6, Jack 4.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1273709,00.html