Submitted by John Stauber on
Can John Kerry beat George Bush by selling himself to disgruntled Republican voters as the kinder, gentler, more compassionate and centrist candidate? After appealing to a left/liberal base during his primary victories juggernaut, the presumed Democratic presidential candidate is moving quickly to the right. "Declaring that he is 'not
a redistribution Democrat,' Senator John Kerry told a group
of wealthy and well-connected supporters on Thursday that
he would soon start an aggressive campaign to define
himself as a centrist, in hopes of peeling moderate
Republicans from President Bush. Tacitly acknowledging his vulnerability to harsh portrayals in a barrage of Mr. Bush's advertisements over the past
month, Mr. Kerry urged Democrats at a $25,000-a-plate
breakfast at the '21' Club in Manhattan to help him paint
his own portrait. ... 'We've got to reach out,' Mr. Kerry said. 'There are so
many Republicans who have said to me: `You know, for the
first time in my life, I'm going to vote for a Democrat.
I'm ready to switch over.' "
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