Kerry tells 'reporters here he's "coming out of spring training" and "I save my best for last." '

Yepsen: Still time for Kerry - but hold the ketchup
By DAVID YEPSEN - Register Political Columnist - 08/14/2003

Webster City, Ia. - John Kerry's presidential hopes in Iowa rest with people like Ramona Timm, a Blairsburg farmer who showed up here Tuesday night to hear the Massachusetts senator.

"He had some good points," she said after his speech to about 75 Hamilton County Democrats. "I like Senator Kerry. I like Howard Dean. I haven't had a chance to meet them all yet so I'm open-minded."

For Kerry, that's good news. With all the buzz about Dean's momentum or Dick Gephardt's trouble in the polls, there's a tendency by some in the political community to forget it's five months until caucuses Jan. 19, when people like Timm have to make a choice.

And Kerry needs every minute of that time. He's running third in polls in Iowa. He started campaigning here later than other candidates, and hasn't spent as much time here. His vote to authorize a war in Iraq caused a number of anti-war Democrats to bypass him in favor of Dean. Then there was the bout with prostate cancer that slowed him down. Now, just when he's trying to put his political flaps down to lift his campaign, the political fiasco in California is crowding out media coverage of - and money for - the Democratic presidential race.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. Kerry, a seasoned U.S. senator and decorated Vietnam veteran, was seen by many early on as the national heavy favorite to beat President Bush. He was smart, rich, experienced, conversant on issues and bulletproofed from any Republican inferences he was weak on defense. Unfortunately for Kerry, it hasn't played out that way.

His base is being piecemealed. He's lost some of the urban liberals to Dean over the war. He's lost some of the populists to Dennis Kucinich. Gephardt denies him some in the labor movement. Too many Democrats worry he'll be pegged as too liberal, as were the last two Massachusetts Democratic presidential candidates, Edward Kennedy and Michael Dukakis.

And there are days when Kerry must feel snake bit. On Wednesday, the Washington Post even wrote a story about how Kerry went to Philadelphia and ordered a cheese steak sandwich made with - horrors - Swiss cheese instead of Cheez Whiz. That's a little like coming to the Iowa State Fair and ordering oysters on the half-shell.

John Norris, Kerry's well- regarded campaign manager in Iowa, said such negativism is getting to some of the younger staffers. He said he had to buck them up in this week's staff conference call by saying their jobs are to quietly build the organization, not worry about the buzz. He said Kerry's campaign is picking up key supporters in every county, people who understand the caucus process and can mobilize others.

"You keep getting precinct captains locked up. Stay steady. Build the infrastructure for what happens at the end," he said he told them. A winning candidate should get hot only at the end, "and even if you get hot at the end, it doesn't do you any good if you can't turn it out. I'd rather be building that organization than have all the buzz. I feel good about the people we're signing up."

Dean's rise in the polls? "These polls are all name identification right now," Norris said. "They're all soft numbers. In the fall it will be different." Some of Dean's surge came from early TV ads, a bump that will change when other candidates begin airing theirs. Still, "there's a lot of anger toward Bush out there and Dean captured some of that," Norris acknowledged. He added: "But it's not enough to be angry. You've got to have imagination and hope in your message."

As a result, Kerry and his campaign are taking steps to tweak campaign operations in Iowa. Kerry's visit this week is the first four-day swing the candidate has made in the state, and Norris is insisting on more. On Tuesday, Kerry campaigned across rural Democratic counties of north-central Iowa, bashing large hog confinements, always a popular target of Democratic politicians. Kerry gets good crowds, and Norris said Kerry is picking up the support of some labor leaders. Kerry is also delivering a punchier, less esoteric message. He told reporters here he's "coming out of spring training" and "I save my best for last."

That's good, but it can be risky. He told the audience here the country should consider raising Social Security taxes on incomes above $86,000 or capping the retirement benefits paid to wealthy Americans. Later he said those were just "options" he was considering.

There was a time, back in the good old days, when presidential candidates could get away with winging it in Iowa, with trying out new ideas or brainstorming out loud with voters. No more. Not when you are always followed by a half-dozen reporters noting your every word. In Iowa, with one of the oldest populations in the country, you especially don't ad lib on something as politically sensitive as Social Security.

Will somebody make sure Kerry doesn't put ketchup on his Maid-Rite?


Absolutely David, hold the Ketchup! Was Kerry adlibbing or simply raising the subject for discussion and consideration?

A good business man knows that slow growth is the best growth. Now, granted we don't have a whole lot of time before the elections, but we have all seen what overzealousness can do to a candidate.

I'm looking forward to seeing Kerry's best, because from I sit, spring training was damn good!