Kerry Casts Bush as a Failed Incumbent

ORLANDO, Fla. — After spending most of the week hammering President Bush for a missing cache of explosives in Iraq, Sen. John F. Kerry today turned back to broader themes, attempting to distill the race down to a choice between a misguided, ineffective incumbent and a challenger who offers a brighter future.

During a morning speech before a lively partisan audience in an exhibition center, the Democratic hopeful sought to cast his candidacy in a hopeful sheen, even as he reprised his major arguments against his rival.

“When you go into that voting booth, you’re going to face a fundamental choice: do we want four more years of the same failed course?” Kerry asked, prompting a resounding “No!” from the audience. “Or do you want a fresh start for America?”

The crowd responded with whoops, whistles and a sustained standing ovation.

“By now, it is clear that no matter who tells him, no matter how many times he hears it, and no matter how bad things get, George W. Bush just doesn’t understand the problems that are facing America and the average Americans of our country,” he added.

The Massachusetts senator was set to campaign all day in Florida, with rallies scheduled in West Palm Beach and Miami. At the last stop, he will be joined again by singer Bruce Springsteen, who kicked off rallies for Kerry before massive crowds yesterday in Madison, Wis., and Columbus, Ohio.

The rock star’s third and final performance for Kerry was scheduled for Cleveland on Monday night, but he told aides Wednesday night that he wanted to do more.

Kerry used his swing through Florida, where residents began casting ballots in early voting nearly two weeks ago, to cap a bitterly fought campaign with an optimistic message.

“I want you to remember that you can walk out of here and vote, today,” he said in Orlando. “And every day. And I want you to do it for the next four days until 8 o’clock in the evening on Tuesday, when we’re going to ring the bell of freedom and change and renewal.”

Earlier in the week, the Democrat had pounced on a report about the disappearance of 377 tons of explosives from a facility near Baghdad, pounding Bush repeatedly for the missing munitions as a symbol of his mismanagement of Iraq.

But today, he did not mention the missing munitions, despite new reports that suggested that at least some of the explosives were still there after the U.S. invasion.

Instead, Kerry attempted to personalize his message, invoking the image of different Americans who will be going to the polls Tuesday.

Kerry described a father who lost his job to outsourcing and is worried about paying for his children’s health insurance. “He’ll wonder whether or not he can afford four more years of a president who fights for those at the top while telling everyone else that this is the best economy of our lifetime,” he said.

He also described the husbands and wives of U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq who are anxious about when they’ll see their spouses again. “They’ll wonder whether or not they can afford four more years of a president who’s unwilling to admit the mistakes that he has made, and says he would do everything all over again the same way,” the candidate said.

Senior advisor Mike McCurry had billed today’s speech “the Cliff Notes version” of Kerry’s closing arguments. Indeed, the candidate offered a boiled-down summary of his case against Bush, touching on a wide range of issues.

The senator painted a dismal portrait of the country under the incumbent, saying American troops are at greater risk in Iraq because of his handling of the war and middle-class families are struggling to get by because of the president’s indifference to their lives.

“That may be George Bush’s record,” he said. “But it doesn’t have to be America’s future, and if we do our work, it won’t be.”

Kerry said that despite people’s unhappiness with the direction of the country, Americans remain fundamentally optimistic that things will get better.

“The people I’ve met understand how hard the last four years have been,” he said. “They also know in their hearts that if we believe in ourselves, America’s best days are ahead of us.

“In four days, we can change the course of our country and because of who we are as Americans, we can change the course of the world,” Kerry added.