Free Republic

He displayed the same bright smile and wore a sharply tailored suit. And when he took the microphone, the crowd erupted into cheers of "Kerry! Kerry!" But it wasn't exactly clear last night whether Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts was yesterday's news or tomorrow's candidate. In town for a Democratic fund-raiser to help pay some of the roughly $2 million in costs the party has incurred in its legal fight over Christine Gregoire's election as governor, Kerry joked about his loss last fall, which came when Ohio's electoral votes swung to President Bush.

(Excerpt:) "Kerry is an odd mix. There's Kerry the Eliot Ness crusader who takes on tough cases to serve justice. There's Kerry the dispassionate policy advocate who can appear more intrigued with issues than with making contact. His politics bounce between the two. He assails the flow of private money into campaigns; he sides with portions of the corporate political agenda. He hews to the liberal line on universal healthcare and increasing wages, but he has displayed more interest in the subject of international crime--hardly an unimportant topic, but one that does not stir many souls. Does that indicate he's...

ATLANTA -- Michael Stanley Dukakis, a self-described "very, very long- shot" candidate just 16 months ago, last night became the Democratic nominee for president and his party's best hope to win the White House since 1976. Earlier, Sen. John F. Kerry took to the convention hall podium, telling the delegates that the "moral darkness" of President Reagan's presidency will soon end. "A Republican president once reminded us, 'There is absolutely nothing to be said for a government of powerful men with the ideals of pawnbrokers,' " Kerry said. "That president's name was Theodore Roosevelt. And today Theodore Roosevelt would be...