Democrats Ready for Prime Time

Two former presidents, a panoply of party stalwarts and rising stars and Sen. John F. Kerry’s fellow Vietnam War veterans will be among those saluting the presumed Democratic presidential nominee at the party’s national convention in Boston this month.

Speakers during the gathering’s opening night July 26 will include former President Carter and former Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic standard-bearer in 2000. The pair will help set the stage for a prime-time address by former President Clinton, according to the schedule announced Tuesday by the Kerry campaign.

Other first-day speakers will call attention to the party’s diversity on Capitol Hill: Reps. Stephanie Tubbs, an African American from Ohio; Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, the only openly lesbian member of Congress; and Robert Menendez, a Cuban American from New Jersey.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, the former president’s wife, also will appear onstage that night with a group of female senators, a party official said.

The convention’s themes are designed to highlight Kerry’s life story -- especially his military service in Vietnam -- and present him as a leader who can be trusted to guide the nation’s war on terrorism. The themes include “A Lifetime of Service and Strength,” “A Stronger, More Secure America” and “Stronger at Home, Respected in the World.”

Television networks ABC, NBC and CBS plan an hour of live coverage of the convention every night except July 27. The featured speaker that night is Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, perhaps the party’s best-known proponent of liberal causes.

Ron Reagan, son of the late Republican President Reagan, also is expected to address the convention that night to promote federal funding of stem-cell research, although officials said the timing of his appearance was not final.

On July 28, the convention is expected to formally nominate Kerry and his pick for the ticket’s vice presidential slot, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina. Edwards is then scheduled to give his acceptance speech. He is to be introduced by his wife, Elizabeth Edwards.

Also scheduled to speak that night is Gov. Bill Richardson on New Mexico, the convention’s chairman.

Kerry’s acceptance speech will cap the convention’s final day, July 29. Speakers preceding him will include his two daughters, Vanessa and Alexandra, and stepsons Christopher and Andre Heinz.

Some of Kerry’s military comrades from Vietnam will attest to his bravery. And former Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, a Vietnam veteran who lost three limbs in an accidental grenade explosion there, will introduce Kerry.

Other speakers during the convention include Kerry’s wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona and Christie Vilsack, wife of Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack. Christie Vilsack gave Kerry a key endorsement days before he won the Jan. 19 Iowa caucuses, which established him as the front-runner for the nomination.

Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley, a likely candidate for governor of Maryland in two years, also will address the convention, as will retired Marine Lt. Col. Steve Brozak of New Jersey, an Iraq War veteran and former Republican running for Congress as a Democrat this year.

Other speakers will be announced in coming days. A party official speaking on condition of anonymity said most of Kerry’s onetime rivals for the nomination, from former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean to the Rev. Al Sharpton, would take a turn at the podium.

It was still uncertain, however, whether Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio would be given a chance to speak. Kucinich has yet to formally end his candidacy.

There also was no word on whether the party’s 1988 presidential nominee, former Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts, would speak or be honored at the convention in his home state.

Kerry was the state’s lieutenant governor during Dukakis’ first term in the mid-1980s.

The convention is scheduled to be in formal session from 4 to 11 p.m. each day -- a total of 28 hours.

In response to the Democratic announcement, Republicans pledged to counter the anti-Bush line coming from Boston and rebut any of Kerry’s attempts to reshape his image.

“For four days the Boston convention will serve as the Democrats’ great salon,” said Republican National Committee spokesman Jim Dyke. “Those who have been watching the Democrats over the last year may not recognize what emerges each day, but don’t worry. We will be there to help, ready with the real record.”