Under Attack, Kerry Appears to Build Momentum

[Feanorcurufinwe]

Interviews with dozens of new Kerry supporters and still-undecided voters this week suggest that many Iowans once enchanted by Howard Dean, but alienated by a steady diet of critical reports about him, have begun to swing Mr. Kerry's way. And Mr. Kerry, the maximally accessible Massachusetts senator, has been enjoying consistently favorable coverage for the first time.

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Afterward, Ms. Snyder said she was worried no more and would now push her friends and neighbors to support Mr. Kerry. "I feel much more confident in his ability to take his experience and get it across to the American people," she said. Friday in New Hampton, Mr. Kerry gave an unremarkable speech but impressed Gladys Christoph, 51. She said she initially was drawn to Dr. Dean but not when she saw him in action. "When he's asked a question, he doesn't respond to it, he gives a pat answer," she said. "That sounds cute, but it doesn't approach what the people were asking. When Kerry answers a question, he is responding to the person."

Ms. Christoph said she was now solidly for Mr. Kerry: "There's a wonderful firm presence about him that seems he could be in command, and yet he's flexible."

For months, Mr. Kerry's advisers watched as, each time Dr. Dean encountered trouble, something occurred to change the subject. "There was a time when Howard Dean said crazier and crazier stuff, and kept getting more popular," one aide said. But Mr. Kerry has been making his own luck this week. On Sunday, he took an unexpected phone call from Christie Vilsack, Iowa's first lady, offering her support; she is now appearing in commercials for him. On Wednesday, the state agriculture secretary endorsed him. Those surrogates were campaigning for Mr. Kerry over the weekend, as were former Senators Bob Kerrey, Max Cleland and Gary Hart; the actor Scott Wolf and the band Blink-182, to court the youth vote; and the senator's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, and daughter, Vanessa, to woo women voters. Nearly every Massachusetts congressman has fanned out across the state, and Senator Edward M. Kennedy is to be in Iowa on Sunday and Monday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/politics/campaigns/18KERR.html?ex=1075006800&en=af4f78e30a274fc8&ei=5062