In his acceptance speech, Kerry focused on the country's condition under Bush.

In his acceptance speech, Kerry focused on the country's condition under Bush.
COMBINED DISPATCHES
BOSTON -- After accepting his party's nomination in a boisterous Thursday night convention finale, Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards, were embarking today on a 3,500-mile, coast-to-coast campaign swing through 21 states.
They hope to sustain any lift they receive from this week's Democratic National Convention. Kerry and the Democratic Party want to maintain a high profile for as long as they can before President Bush seizes the nation's attention at the Republican National Convention in New York from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2.
Kerry and Edwards will travel first by bus to Pennsylvania, then on to West Virginia, ending in Michigan on Sunday. They'll campaign separately after that, then rejoin Thursday in St. Louis to start a train trip to the Rockies.
Altogether, the two plan to visit 21 closely divided states --in 15 days -- that could determine the outcome of the November election. According to recent polls of 18 battleground states, Kerry leads in nine, Bush in five and the two are even in four.
Republican campaign
Ending a week of self-imposed silence, Bush will kick off a monthlong campaign blitz today, highlighting his plans for a second term.
The burst of activity leading into the Republican convention signals Bush's determination to counter any boost that Kerry gets from this week's Democratic convention. Bush, who followed tradition by keeping a low profile during the Democratic gathering in Boston, will be much more active in coming weeks.
Bush and Kerry will cross paths in Ohio this weekend as they try to break a deadlock in the polls. Bush's two-day swing, the first in a series of weekly campaign outings, will take him to four battleground states: Missouri, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
White House and campaign aides said Bush would be more explicit about his plans for a second term. One item Bush will highlight is his proposal to overhaul Social Security by giving younger workers the option of investing a portion of their payroll taxes in the stock market.
Kerry hit hard at the president's handling of the Iraq war and the war on terror in his acceptance speech Thursday night.
"Saying there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq doesn't make it so. Saying we can fight a war on the cheap doesn't make it so," Kerry told an overflowing FleetCenter crowd and a television audience of millions.
"And proclaiming mission accomplished certainly doesn't make it so," he said to roars.
Republicans hope to counter any upswing for Kerry by casting Bush as a can-do leader and convincing voters that Kerry has not earned the right to be commander in chief.
Convincing voters
The Democrats' convention, a four-day show of unity behind Kerry, was designed to tell millions of undecided voters in key states about his Vietnam War service and persuade them that he is prepared to lead and defend the country in an age of terrorism.
Thirteen men who served with Kerry on swiftboats three decades ago in the Mekong Delta shared his spotlight, and a 9 1/2-minute biographical film featured Kerry's own war footage.
Polls show Bush losing public support on Iraq, dropping to 42 percent earlier this month from 59 percent six months ago, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
Kerry, referring to critics' claims that the president's decision to invade Iraq was based on faulty evidence, promised immediate reforms of the U.S. intelligence system so "policy is guided by facts, and facts are never distorted by politics."
Other issues
He expanded his criticism far beyond Iraq as he sought to draw a contrast with the president on the national security issues he has placed at the core of his challenge for the White House.
Kerry vowed to reverse policies that send U.S. jobs overseas and promised to expand health care, improve education and "fight a smarter, more effective war" against terror.
"In these dangerous days there is a right way and a wrong way to be strong," he said. "Strength is more than tough words."
When he cited U.S. job losses, rising health-care costs, pollution and homelessness under Bush, Kerry repeated the phrase: "America can do better. And help is on the way."
Republicans said he has taken inconsistent positions on the war against terror, and that he should explain himself.