Kerry Message Begins Leaning Toward Center
By ROBIN TONER
WASHINGTON, June 24 — Senator John Kerry has yet to produce a popular catchphrase for his political philosophy, like Gov. Bill Clinton's 1992 promise of a "third way" or Gov. George W. Bush's pledge in 2000 of "compassionate conservatism."
But Mr. Kerry's Democratic message for the general election campaign is emerging, many Democrats say — on the campaign trail, in the party platform now being written and in the major speeches he has delivered in recent weeks.
His message, in part, is a return to the promise of Clintonian centrism: reducing the deficit, spurring economic growth, trying to ease "the squeeze on middle-class America," as Mr. Kerry puts it, from things like the cost of health insurance and college tuition.
Bruce Reed, president of the Democratic Leadership Council and a longtime Clinton aide, fretted openly during the heyday of Howard Dean last year that the party was moving to the left. Today, Mr. Reed describes Mr. Kerry approvingly as "a pragmatic centrist in the Clinton mode." ...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/25/politics/campaign/25DEMS.final.html?hp>
Carl
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