‘Change’ Is Vital Election Theme for Bush, Kerry

Even as he fights to regain momentum in the presidential race, Sen. John F. Kerry faces a debate among advisors over the tone and content of his message, according to insiders and other Democrats familiar with the campaign’s discussions.

One continued disagreement is over how sharply the Democratic presidential nominee -- as opposed to campaign surrogates -- should attack President Bush. Also in dispute is how much change would be too much for Kerry to advocate in these anxious times.

In one compromise, Kerry has taken to using words “new direction” rather than “change.”

Although Kerry strategists agree the Massachusetts senator needs to be more aggressive, they remain divided over how best to communicate his critique of Bush. That lack of consensus, some Democrats say, has exacerbated Kerry’s inconsistency on the campaign trail, undermining his ability to drive home his central arguments that Bush has neglected middle-class Americans and made the country less safe through his policies in Iraq.

While opinion polls have shown Bush politically vulnerable on the economy and the war, the surveys also have found that Kerry is an unknown quantity to many voters who have little sense of where he would take the country as president.

The Kerry campaign is “far from where it needs to be,” said Ed Sarpolus, an independent pollster in Michigan, a state both sides are targeting. “The Bush campaign set out with a message, and that’s what they’re sticking with. Kerry has to be more forceful, more dominant, more consistent.”

The unevenness was evident last week. Even as Kerry sharpened his criticisms of Bush’s domestic policies, he stepped on his own message, by offering new permutations of his views on Iraq. He also appeared ambivalent about how hard to hit the president.

Advisors to Kerry dismiss suggestions their internal debates have hamstrung the campaign, calling them “routine discussions.” They maintain that the “fundamentals” of the White House race remain in their favor, arguing that Bush’s lukewarm approval ratings and the nation’s slow economic recovery create an environment in which Kerry can quickly gain ground.

“Ultimately, the American people will see John Kerry as someone as who cares very deeply about the issues that they care about,” said senior advisor Tad Devine.

Republicans -- though far more confident after their party’s national convention that led to Bush’s surge in the polls -- say the contest is far from over.

But those close to Kerry’s campaign acknowledge that both its internal operations and the candidate are not as focused and disciplined as Bush’s reelection team, which hammers relentlessly at its message that the Democrat flip-flops, lacks principles and is weak on national security issues.

“Kerry has gotten more aggressive. But the attack is never the same twice -- it changes event by event,” said one party strategist, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The point is they’re still having meetings to discuss this. The Bush people have known for six months how they’re going to do it, and they’ve done it every day since then.”

For his part, Kerry has a tendency to swing at whatever is thrown his way. That is why the arrival of veteran political operative John Sasso, who began traveling at Kerry’s side last week, was greeted with relief by aides. They hope Sasso can keep the senator “on message,” as one put it.

Insiders say the candidate himself was furious with advisors who counseled him in early August to ignore television ads that accused him of engineering his Vietnam War injuries for political gain. Eventually, he fired back, but not before the broadsides on his military credentials helped erode his standing in polls.

Kerry’s frustration drove him in recent weeks to recruit several veterans from President Clinton’s administration, including former White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart and political director Doug Sosnik, in the hopes of making the campaign more nimble and assertive.

James Carville and Paul Begala, who helped engineer Clinton’s 1992 victory, also have stepped up their informal consultations with the campaign, even as they continue their role as CNN political commentators.

Some Democrats professed delight at the arrival of the Clinton crew.

“They bring seasoning, they bring great creativity and the experience of rapid response” to GOP attacks, said Art Torres, chairman of the California Democratic Party.

But others expressed concern that yet another set of advisors would further bog Kerry down in internal debates and turf warfare.

“These are talented people he’s brought on,” said one Democratic strategist, a veteran of presidential campaigns who spoke on condition of anonymity and did not wish to be identified criticizing the candidate. “But unless their jobs are clearly demarcated, that can be a problem.”

Democratic insiders say it remains unclear who is ultimately responsible for the campaign’s daily message, which is crucial to helping Kerry project a consistent vision.

One camp, dominated by Devine and his business partner, Bob Shrum, has argued that Kerry must shy away from hard-edged attacks and an aggressive message of change because that could turn off swing voters, according to people familiar with the internal debate.

On the other side, some of the former Clinton aides, along with Kerry’s cadre of longtime Boston-based advisors, are pushing for a more pugnacious approach. In particular, many of the candidate’s oldest friends want him to recast references to his service in Vietnam and his antiwar activities as evidence of his character.

The candidate’s advisors dispute reports of any debilitating divide.

“In every campaign I’ve been in, it is routine for people to have different debates and discussions about how they’re going to proceed,” Devine said. But the lack of agreement has been apparent as Kerry works to reverse the gains that Bush has made since the GOP convention in New York.

At a rally held just minutes after Bush finished his acceptance speech at the convention, Kerry delivered fiery remarks in which he reminded an audience in Springfield, Ohio, of Vice President Dick Cheney’s five deferments from military service.

Many Democratic leaders applauded his tough new tone.

Two days later, Kerry told supporters in Akron, Ohio, that “we’re going to take the wood” to the Republicans. But he hastened to add: “And we’re going to do it nicely. Because America deserves a real conversation about the choices that affect your lives.”

During a Labor Day stop in a working class neighborhood in Canonsburg, Pa., Kerry overshadowed his sharp new critique of Bush’s domestic agenda with his harshest assessment yet of the war in Iraq. “It’s the wrong war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time,” he said.

With that, Kerry sparked a series of high-voltage exchanges with Bush’s campaign that dominated much of the week, drowning out his intended focus on economic issues.

Behind the scenes, the candidate appears immersed in the effort to regain his footing. During flights on his campaign plane, he can be seen standing in the staff section with his sleeves rolled up, animatedly talking with aides and revising his speeches up to the last minute.

Those close to him say he’s in high spirits, frequently joking with top advisors about his reputation for being “a good closer.”

That was clearly on his mind on a recent evening as he offered a pep talk to the Mansfield Senior High School Tygers. The northwestern Ohio football team had lost its first game of the season, and was heading to the field for their next contest.

Standing in the golden September light, Kerry told the players that sports could teach them a lot about life. “You know the old saying, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going’? This is when you find yourself. You just go out there tonight and pull that little extra something out of here,” he said, clutching his fist to his heart.

To win, however, he’s going to have to put up more of a fight than the Tygers did that night. After Kerry’s pep talk, the team was clobbered by Sandusky High School, 34 to 7.