Easterner Kerry Goes Cajun in Bid for Southern Support

No longer dogged by major Democratic rivals, Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry pivoted toward the general election Friday as he called on voters across the ideological spectrum to unite in an effort to defeat President Bush.

During a swing through Louisiana, which holds its Democratic primary Tuesday, Kerry vowed to challenge Bush on both domestic and international fronts and portrayed himself as a mainstream candidate, dismissing Republican efforts to pigeonhole him as a liberal.

Standing under swift-moving gray clouds at an afternoon rally, his hair tossed by gusts of humid wind, the lanky candidate pointed out a group of people waving “Deanies for Kerry” signs in the crowd.

“That’s how we’re going to win this,” said the senator, three days after sweeping nine states and effectively securing the Democratic nomination.

“We’re going to come together, all of us: Howard Dean, John Edwards, Joe Lieberman, Carol Mosley Braun, Dennis [J. Kucinich] -- everybody in this race. And we’re going to come together as Democrats and independents and thoughtful Republicans who understand that it’s wrong to see what we’ve seen happening in this country.”

Kerry is scheduled to hopscotch across four states that hold presidential contests Tuesday -- Texas, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi -- using the Democratic primary calendar to escalate his campaign against Bush. Today, he plans appearances in Houston and San Antonio.

Friday, Kerry accused the president of ducking his record, saying Bush’s new television commercials featuring images of the destroyed World Trade Center were an attempt to avoid domestic issues.

“As you know, George Bush wants this whole deal just to be about war,” Kerry said. “His first advertisements have pictures of ground zero.” The crowd booed.

“”He can’t come out here and talk to you about jobs,” the candidate added. “He can’t come out here and talk to you about protecting the environment.... He’s going to try to scare America and he’s going to try to change the subject.”

Kerry also vowed Friday to take on Bush’s war record. Aides said the presumptive Democratic nominee will give a national radio address today, in which he will rebuke the administration for the lack of readiness of soldiers in Iraq.

The Massachusetts senator drew a large crowd to New Orleans’ riverbank park Friday afternoon, despite the lack of a competitive primary in Louisiana on Tuesday. On stage, some supporters waved a large sign that read, “Geaux Kerry,” a play off the area’s Cajun influence. At one point, the audience, unbidden, began to chant: “Bush’s got to go! Bush’s got to go!”

Ana Scully, a 50-year-old Realtor from River Ridge, 20 miles outside of New Orleans, said she usually felt outnumbered as a Democrat in a staunchly Republican region.

“But lately, it’s been less and less true,” Scully said. “People everywhere say they are just disgusted with Bush.”

Even as he called for an inclusive campaign that would appeal to Republicans as well as Democrats, Kerry stoked the partisan fervor, laughing as the audience booed a mention of Vice President Dick Cheney.

“Just promise me you’ll keep that primal instinct alive all the way through November,” he said.

After being introduced by Sen. Mary Landrieu at the rally, Kerry heralded her 2002 reelection as evidence that the state, which Bush won by eight points in 2000, is receptive to Democrats.

“Louisiana gave heart and hope to Democrats all across this nation,” he said.

Later, during interviews with local television stations, Kerry dismissed questions about whether he’s a liberal -- as Republicans claim he is -- calling the term a “big label” that “doesn’t fit.” He mentioned his law-and-order credentials from his stint as a local prosecutor, and pronounced himself a fiscal conservative.

“I believe we can win Louisiana; I want to win Louisiana,” he told a local CBS affiliate. “There are other states in the South I believe we can win. And I’m going to be talking mainstream, common-sense, main American values.”

Friday, he did his best to fit in with the local culture. “Laissez les bon temps rouler!” he declared at the rally, throwing out the popular Cajun phrase, “Let the good times roll!”

Earlier, he and Landrieu sat down at a seafood diner to enjoy a large plate of steaming red crawfish and a bowl of seafood gumbo, a meal Kerry declared “his favorite.” Cameras snapped away as Kerry peeled one of the crustaceans and popped it in his mouth.

“There’s nothing worse than a public person putting food in their mouth and you guys photographing it,” he said mildly, looking over at a bank of reporters.

With that, his staff quickly ushered the photographers and cameramen out of the room.