In this race, close echoes of last one

Building on momentum from the Democratic convention, Sen. John Kerry is taking the fight to President Bush's geographical and issues terrain - and taking some pages out of Mr. Bush's 2000 playbook.

With his base energized and polls showing Mr. Kerry moving ahead of Bush, after picking up a small bounce from the convention, the Massachusetts senator is trying to consolidate his lead by reaching out to swing voters.

Crossing the country on a two-week "Believe in America" tour through key battleground states, he's bypassing most major cities for smaller towns, where Bush tends to have more support. He's stressing Republican themes like values, trying to shift the definition away from things like abortion and gay marriage toward economic justice and personal conduct.

Kerry is even emulating aspects of Bush's 2000 race against Vice President Al Gore, adopting variations of Bush's own slogans. His promise to restore "trust and credibility" to the White House echoes Bush's promise to restore "honor and dignity" in the wake of the Lewinsky scandals, and his refrain of "help is on the way" was formerly used by Vice President Dick Cheney. Sen. John Edwards's variation, "hope is on the way," is a close echo.

The tactic reflects the circumstances surrounding the race: With Democrats highly motivated to defeat Bush, Kerry is able to focus on reaching undecided voters in the center - presenting himself, as Bush once did, as a candidate who can unite a divided nation. Like Bush in 2000, Kerry is positioning himself against a polarizing predecessor who, he argues, has betrayed the trust of the American people - in this case over the reasons for going to war.

"We've been hearing a lot of talk in this campaign about values, promises being broken," Kerry told a large crowd that had waited hours in the rain to see the Democratic ticket in Zanesville, Ohio. "The strength of America is greatest when its leaders tell the truth to the American people and trust them to make decisions."

Certainly, there are key differences between the current campaign and the 2000 race, some of which work to Kerry's advantage, but some of which make his task considerably harder.

Unlike in 2000, when Bush had to convince voters to change the party in power after eight years of peace and prosperity, Kerry is running at a time when a majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction of the country and want change.

Yet he's also facing a far less stable environment, including widespread concerns about security, which could make voters wary of putting in new leadership, particularly if Kerry cannot convince them he would do a better job of keeping the country safe.

Kerry is attempting to straddle these conflicting sentiments by positioning himself as a responsible, reassuring leader who would bring change but not dramatic change - essentially promising to restore a sense of normalcy after four years of war and economic uncertainty, and get America back on track.

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