Perhaps, as more people learn the details of Kerry’s Vietnam bravery, he’ll win as many hearts as minds. The candidate sounds downright plaintive when asked if he buys the conventional wisdom that the presidency is different from all other offices, because voters need to feel a personal connection to a man in order to vote for him. “I think people have to trust you,” Kerry says. “And obviously, hopefully, like you to some degree. Sometimes people have underestimated me in that regard. I think that over the course of the last year I’ve proven that I have an ability to build relationships with people. I can laugh at myself, I can poke fun at myself, I can have a good time. But at the same time I’m serious about issues. And I don’t want to walk away from that. I think it’s a serious time, and people want somebody who’s a leader. And I hope they will grow to like me as well as respect me, as they get to know me.”

Kerry won’t need to be loved to win the New York primary. But the candidate clearly needs to tap into something more ennobling than hatred of the president if he wants to win on less friendly turf. He’ll always be solemn, but lately Kerry has been departing from his standard stump speech to experiment with uplift. “When I was out in Washington the other day, flying in over the mountains, I could see the great Columbia River underneath, and Mount Rainier protruding above the clouds,” he says one morning in Nashville. “And I thought of the great expedition of Lewis and Clark . . . They went around the bends in that river not knowing what they’d find on the other side . . . It’s the story of America. It’s who we are and who we ought to be and who we ought to continue to be . . . We need to continue to be the Corps of Discovery, as a people.”

Kerry soon drifts back into a numbing wish list of nostrums and clunky phrases like “high-value-added jobs.” But the attempt at poetry is an indication that Kerry is growing as he pushes down the campaign trail. These days his speeches are framed by mocking references to Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished” banner. The device draws appreciative hoots from the Democratic-primary faithful. When he’s appealing for general election votes, Kerry knows he’ll need to offer something more than the fact that he’s not Bush, a mission that’s all his own.

When John Kerry claims victory in Virginia and Tennessee he’s posed between a Chick-fil-A stand and a Taco Bell Express window. The campaign has chosen to celebrate crucial wins in two southern primaries, victories that essentially seal his nomination, in a student-activities-center food court at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. The 200 or so students right in front of the temporary stage shriek happily at the sight of their man. Nearly as many pass by without stopping, clutching engineering textbooks and heading to the library.

The setting was picked as much for convenience as anything else—Kerry can be back at his Georgetown house in 30 minutes to get a head start on two days of badly needed rest, if nonstop fund-raising calls can be considered restful. The food-court scene has a kind of symbolism nonetheless. As long a slog as the primaries may seem, they are but a fast-food stop when your ultimate destination is the White House.

A few senior Kerry staffers grab cold bottles of Bud, but when an overeager volunteer bounds up and asks, “Where’s the victory party?” the aides shake their heads. “These wins are good, but there’s a sore feeling in the pit of my stomach,” says a key campaign operative. “Because I know what tomorrow’s gonna be: We’re gonna get hit hard, by our opponents, by the Republicans. And one mistake can blow the whole thing up.” For months the Kerry campaign has been lustily chanting “Bring it on!” Now, for better or worse, it’s here.

Related:

• Archive: “Features”
• Articles by Chris Smith
• Table of Contents: Feb 23, 2004 issue of New York | Subscribe!