DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION Voters want Kerry's views

The convention is regarded as a chance for the candidate to explain his stance on issues.
COMBINED DISPATCHES
WASHINGTON -- A majority of voters say they know little about John Kerry's positions on key issues and want the Democratic presidential candidate to detail specific plans for handling the economy, Iraq and the war on terrorism when he addresses the Democratic National Convention and a nationally televised audience Thursday, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The survey suggests that the stakes for Kerry and the Democrats as they began their convention in Boston could not be higher. In barely a month, Kerry has lost ground to President Bush on every top voting issue in this year's election.
A growing proportion of voters say Bush and not Kerry is the candidate who most closely shares their values, and four in 10 believe the Democrat is "too liberal." Bush has even narrowed the gap on which candidate better understands their problems, an area that Kerry has led.
Negative ads, attacks
The poll suggests that negative ads by the Bush-Cheney campaign that have been airing since early March, as well as attacks by Republican officials, have been increasingly successful in planting the image of Kerry as an unreliable leader who flip-flops on the issues -- perceptions that Democrats will work hard to reverse at their convention.
Kerry's advisers downplayed the results of the Post-ABC poll, asserting that the senator from Massachusetts enters the convention stronger than other recent challengers to incumbent presidents. But they agreed that the four-day gathering in Boston represents a critical opportunity for Kerry to flesh out what is still a partial portrait of his candidacy, and said his chance to communicate with voters directly will pay dividends as the campaign goes forward.
The survey found that Kerry and Bush remain virtually deadlocked, with 48 percent of registered voters supporting Bush and 46 percent Kerry. Independent candidate Ralph Nader claims 3 percent support of the hypothetical vote. In mid-June, Kerry held a four-point lead over Bush and was tied with Bush in a Post survey two weeks ago.
Kerry has slipped even though Bush remains unpopular with many Americans. Currently half of Americans approve of the job he is doing as president and 47 percent disapprove. Fewer than half endorse the way he is managing the economy, the situation in Iraq and health care. More broadly, a majority of Americans -- 53 percent -- say they are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country, a 21-point increase since Saddam Hussein's government fell to U.S. forces 15 months ago.
Agreement on importance
Although the electorate remains deeply divided, the survey found one area of broad agreement: Two in three voters say this election is one of the most important of their lives.
As the Democratic National Convention opened Monday, Democrats castigated Bush as a president who mishandled the economy and bungled the war on terror. Kerry will "rally the world to our side," the former President Bill Clinton said as the party turned to an aging liberal warrior and Kerry's outspoken wife to define the Massachusetts senator.
Day Two of the Democratic National Convention focuses on what Kerry's campaign describes as his lifetime of service, from a volunteer combat tour in Vietnam to more than two decades in political office.
The Navy veteran campaigned in Florida on Monday and was appearing in the Navy town of Norfolk, Va., today, where he was calling for the Sept. 11 commission to continue working past its scheduled end date of Aug. 26 to ensure recommended reforms are put in place.
Who's to speak
In the absence of Kerry, who was to arrive Wednesday, Democrats were hearing from Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, the liberal icon whom Republicans love to link with Kerry; and the candidate's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, who drew attention this week by telling a reporter to "shove it."
Introducing her husband Monday night as "the last great Democratic president," Sen. Hillary Clinton revved up the packed convention hall by saying Kerry "will lead the world, not alienate it."
When the former president took the stage, delegates jumped up, screamed, applauded and waved placards. Even as he clearly enjoyed it, Clinton quickly turned the focus to insisting that Kerry would be a good commander in chief.
"During the Vietnam War, many young men, including the current president, the vice president and me, could have gone to Vietnam and didn't. John Kerry came from a privileged background. He could have avoided going too, but instead, he said: Send me," Clinton said.
In keeping with the Democratic convention strategy of avoiding strong Bush-bashing, Clinton jabbed the Republicans sharply on the economy, tax cuts and corporate windfalls, while taking more subtle digs at the president himself.
Willingness to listen
Kerry has "a willingness to hear other views, even those who disagree with him," Clinton said. "John Kerry will make choices that reflect both conviction and common sense."
Sen. John Edwards watched the opening speeches at his home in North Carolina, resting a raspy voice and doing some last-minute polishing of the speech in which he will accept the party's vice presidential nomination Thursday, aides said.
Former Vice President Al Gore urged Democrats to "fully and completely" channel their anger over the bitter Florida recount, which decided the 2000 election in Bush's favor, and send Kerry to the White House.
The former vice president drew repeated ovations from delegates at the FleetCenter, particularly when he drew his wife Tipper into a briefer version of the kiss they shared at the convention four years ago in Los Angeles.
Outside, the extraordinarily tight security continued, with armed officers standing guard along a seven-foot-tall metal security fence that ringed the convention complex.
Police responded to numerous reports of unattended or suspicious packages, including one left in a restroom at the FleetCenter. All were found to be harmless.
Bush, meanwhile, stayed out of the public eye at his Texas ranch, where he went mountain bike riding. At one point he fell on a steep descent and wound up with a cut knee.
The president hopped up and continued his ride.