Delegates' advice for Kerry

Be clear and repetitious on the stump.

Pick some members of the cabinet before November.

Smile more. Show your fire. Talk about healthcare, jobs, the economy, Iraq. And please - come to my town.

As they flow out of Boston's FleetCenter to pack their bags and head home, delegates who attended the 2004 Democratic National Convention have a lot to say to their new nominee.

Some admit that maybe - just maybe - they didn't care enough about winning in 2000. But this time? This time they want it so badly you'd think Democrats had been out of White House power for a generation, not four years.

So, to improve the chances of victory in November, there are a few teensy improvements they might like to see in their candidate. Delegates interviewed on the floor of the convention were full of advice for John Kerry, in the spirit of constructive criticism, of course.

Most of them, anyway. "There's nothing [he needs to do]!" says Allene Maynard of Providence, R.I. "He's got it in the bag already!"

If there was any main theme from the group surveyed, it was that the Kerry campaign needs to focus, pick a message, and hammer it home.

Consider the opinion of DyShaun Muhammad, a member of the Minnesota delegation who works in marketing for General Mills. He talks about what he thinks Senator Kerry needs to do, using the lingo of middle-management America: "I am always hoping Kerry [will] choose his brand, make sure it accurately reflects the product he's going to deliver ... and talk about it religiously, consistently, and without fault."

Translation: Tell your story to the people, concisely.

Mr. Muhammad and a number of other delegates also refer to Kerry in executive terms, saying that they want him to project the image of the US top boss.

Asked what he'd tell Kerry about the situation in Iraq, first-time conventioneer Ernest Gadson from New York says, "I would ask him to get the people to [handle] that. He would be the CEO, Mr. Kerry, and give those people the resources to bring the troops home."

Honesty is the best policy, says Mr. Gadson. "America has been lied to enough.... Tell us what we need to do to bring the troops back."

On the subject of foreign affairs, a number of delegates think Kerry can win votes by emphasizing how alone America appears to have become in the world. The US needs to get back to having friendly exchanges with other countries, says Georgine Guillory, a second-time delegate and port commissioner from Texas. "The Bush administration has scared everyone," she says.

Resplendent in a star-spangled cowboy hat and red jacket, the Texas delegate frames her opinion about the current state of US political affairs with vintage Lone Star language.

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