The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

JIM LEHRER: Good evening, I'm Jim Lehrer for a second night from the Fleet Center in Boston and the Democratic National Convention. On the NewsHour tonight: We hear again from some delegates; explore the Democratic approach to the economy; profile Barack Obama, the Illinois Senate candidate who will keynote the convention tonight; study convention and candidate spouse history with Michael Beschloss, Richard Norton Smith and Ellen Fitzpatrick; and look at the evening ahead with Mark Shields and David Brooks. The non-convention news of this day will be at the end of the program tonight.

JIM LEHRER: The Democrats go to another array of the party stars on this second night of their national convention in Boston. Teresa Heinz Kerry is one of the star attractions, addressing the delegates two nights before they formally nominate her husband for president. Others speaking tonight are John Kerry's fellow senator from Massachusetts, Edward Kennedy, and two of Kerry's former rivals, Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt. Ron Reagan, son of the late republican president, will also speak on the subject of stem- cell research. The convention delegates adopted the party's 2004 platform today. It calls for more international support in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for reforming the nation's intelligence system. It also urges rolling back tax cuts for wealthy Americans. Sen. Kerry called today for keeping the 9/11 Commission in business at least for another 18 months. He spoke in Norfolk, Virginia, on his campaign journey to the convention. He said the commission could make sure its recommendations get attention. And he said: "You can't treat the report as something you hope will go away."

SEN. JOHN KERRY: When the Commission released their report, I called for immediate action; not talk, not vague promises, not excuses. Back-peddling and going slow is something that America can't afford. It will take real bipartisan leadership and real action to protect this country of ours.

JIM LEHRER: Kerry said he would implement all the recommendations. They include creating a centralized counter-terror center and naming a national head of intelligence, among others. A spokeswoman for President Bush confirmed today he's considering putting some of the recommendations into effect by executive order.

FOCUS VOICES FROM THE FLOOR

JIM LEHRER: Now, voices from the convention floor, and to Gwen Ifill.

GWEN IFILL: Good evening, Jim. Among other things, the convention tonight will be hearing from some of the people who John Kerry defeated on his way to winning the nomination this week. So we've been spending some time on the floor today talking to some of the delegates who are here to support Sen. Kerry because another candidate brought them to the party.

GWEN IFILL: Were you supportive of John Kerry when you first got into this process?

RICK JOHNSON, Missouri: Well, during the primary process, I was supportive of Dick Gephardt early on. I'm now a strong supporter of John Kerry.

GWEN IFILL: Now, why did you decide to support Dick Gephardt, just because he was your local guy?

RICK JOHNSON: Well, because I had a good relationship with him. I think he would have made a great president. Because he had a tremendous amount of experience in Washington, and I think he would have done what was best for the people of the state of Missouri and for the country. So that's why I was supporting him.

GWEN IFILL: Why did you make the shift?

RICK JOHNSON: Well, after he withdrew, then the selections obviously went down, the number of available candidates. And I support John Kerry now. John Kerry as a veteran, there is no question in my mind that John Kerry would be a great president for our veterans and for our men and women abroad.

GWEN IFILL: You know that Dick Gephardt has a reputation for being very strong with labor groups.

RICK JOHNSON: Yes.

GWEN IFILL: What would you say... how would you compare John Kerry in that?

RICK JOHNSON: Well, I think John Kerry, Sen. Kerry has been very strong on labor issues, very strong for working men and women, health care, education, the ability to collectively bargain, the ability to bargain for a safer workplace, for better wages, and those sorts of things. I don't know that you can really compare the two. I think they've both been exceptionally strong on issues that affect working families and organized labor.

GWEN IFILL: Dick Gephardt has a reputation for being very strong with labor groups. Does John Kerry have that same reputation?

ROBIN WRIGHT JONES, Missouri: I don't think he has as strong a relationship with labor. I think that it's moving forward. I think we're going to support him with that. But Kerry is a very charismatic man in his way, and I think his replacement for Dick is just going to be phenomenal for the party. He's very serious, sincere and loyal. The unions that are here to support him, and we're going to stand behind him with that.

GWEN IFILL: Now you're supporting John Kerry?

JIM MARTIN, Maine: I am. I am supporting John Kerry and John Edwards.

GWEN IFILL: When did you decide to do that?

JIM MARTIN: When Howard Dean pulled out of the race and it became obvious that John Kerry was going to be our nominee. I had looked at John Kerry early on. And it really was between John Kerry and Howard Dean. I think, early on I think Howard Dean had the passion, and I think that helped John Kerry be a better candidate, and to get his message out as well.

GWEN IFILL: Howard Dean brought a lot of people into the party who hadn't been involved before. In your experience in Maine, is that still true? Are they still involved?

JIM MARTIN: Absolutely. Half of our state delegation from Maine are new, first-time delegates. Most of those are from the Dean campaign and the Kucinich campaign. I think that the primary season, which was very contentious, and there was a lot of candidates, but I really think that was an advantage to us in the long haul because so many people got excited about getting involved. Of course, George Bush has really rallied and united to make sure we worked to defeat him and he doesn't get a second term. I have never seen anything like this in my life, how many new people are coming into the process and saying, "what can I do?"

GWEN IFILL: Did any of the excitable, excited Dean supporters decide to go home after he pulled out, do you know?

JIM MARTIN: I haven't met a single one. Every Dean supporter I know who was active early on in the campaign is either working for democracy for America or they're volunteering for the Kerry campaign or they're volunteering for their localcongressional candidate. They're working on local legislative, congressional and Senate races. That's, I think, the legacy of the Dean campaign. When his campaign finished, we didn't stop. And he didn't want us to stop. So we're going to go out and do everything we can to make sure that we get a Democratic majority and we fight for those Democratic values we believe in.

GWEN IFILL: Were you one of those "Deaniacs" that we were reading about?

JACOB CRUMBINE, Vermont: Sure, I guess you could call me a Deaniac. I did everything I could to get him elected in the primary. It didn't happen, but now I'm excited to support John Kerry.

GWEN IFILL: When it didn't happen, were you disillusioned of put off at all?

JACOB CRUMBINE: Yeah, its tough. You believe in someone and a cause and you believe you're right. It's disappointing the majority of people didn't see it the way we did. But I still believe that Dean and our campaign did change the way the political process was run, and will be continued.

GWEN IFILL: You decided to come here, even though your original plan was to support Dick Gephardt.

JOHN PEREZ, California: Well, a absolutely. There original plan was to support Dick Gephardt. As the campaign evolved, it was clear that John Kerry had an understanding and a commitment to economic prosperity for all people in this country, and his commitment to rebuilding our American economy is exactly what we need, especially in southern California.

GWEN IFILL: You're from California. Do you feel like it was over before you had a chance to vote?

JOHN PEREZ: It was over. That's the problem with the primary process. You have an overly truncated system. It doesn't give us all an equal shot to have our voice heard. In a state as large and diverse as California, for us to be coming into the process late is frustrating. But that's a systematic problem. It doesn't speak to the fact that regardless of when we would have voted, Kerry would have been our candidate. His message was the message that resonates with Californians and will ultimately help him be successful in getting elected this November.

GWEN IFILL: Also on the podium tonight, as you mentioned earlier, Jim, Theresa Heinz Kerry, the blunt- talking millionaire who will give a big speech to set the stage for her husbands acceptance speech later in the week. Jim.

FOCUS

JIM LEHRER: Now, what to do about the economy, and the competing Democratic answers. Ray Suarez poses the questions.

RAY SUAREZ: And I'm joined by three members of Congress with diverse constituencies and unique economic problems. Nydia Velasquez represents parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, New York. Harold Ford's district includes the city and suburbs of Memphis, Tennessee. And Earl Blumenauer represents the city of Portland, Oregon, and its surrounding areas. And let me quickly go around the table to get started. If we were to visit your districts and walk its streets, what would people there say are the challenges, the main issues concerning the American economy, Congressman Ford?

REP. HAROLD FORD, JR.: Wages going down, schools needing to be improved and more jobs. We're in a economy that depends heavily on our distribution and logistics network. Fed Ex is the largest employer in our district, employs some 40,000 people in and around Memphis. When they do well, we do well. And one of the things that we hope that John Kerry will bring and his administration will bring will be a newfound and a renewed commitment rather to creating and building skills with our existing workforce and investing in our schools to ensure that we produce the kind of entrepreneurs and thinkers who can lead our economy in Memphis and nationally for some time to come.

RAY SUAREZ: Congresswoman Velazquez?

REP. NYDIA VELAZQUEZ: As Harold said, wages going down. In New York City we are facing a housing crisis. For small businesses, they feel that the government is not there, that they are not provided with the economic tools; that access to capital is not affordable, that health care costs are skyrocketing, that the federal government and this administration has turned its back on small businesses.

RAY SUAREZ: Congressman Blumenauer?

REP. EARL BLUMENAUER: Well, I think theres a great deal of agreement with what my two colleagues just mentioned. I would refer to two other things that I think are important. In a state like Oregon and a community like mine that bet heavily on the global economy, high-tech, we have been hammered by escalating energy costs and the refusal of the Bush administration to do something about the fallout of the Enron debacle, which is really at a devastating effect on our community. The notion that this administration inexplicably has decided to prevent a bipartisan majority in Congress passing the transportation bill, which would put tens of thousands of people to work literally within weeks to rebuild crumbling bridges, deal with infrastructure, roads, transit and that there has been a frustration on the part of people where we have a false choice as far as the environment is concerned. In my community, people don't think that protecting the environment is bad for the economy.

They think that that is something that would help enhance the economy. And it's really frustrating to see this administration turn its back on it.

RAY SUAREZ: Well, today a poll was released by the Washington Post that showed a lot of voters don't yet know what John Kerry stands for. Is there a central Democratic message that answers those sets of challenges that you identify for your district?

REP. EARL BLUMENAUER: Well, John Kerry has been speaking about these issues. I know I went out and endorsed him in Iowa seven, eight months ago. He's been articulating it slowly to the public attention in terms of his proposals for energy, which would create jobs, stabilize the economy, his issues that relate to infrastructure and environment and what the Kerry-Edwards ticket is going to do in terms of empathizing to people in communities like mine where we've suffered from one of the highest unemployment rates in the country for the last three years.

RAY SUAREZ: Congressman Ford?

REP. HAROLD FORD, JR.: I think a lot of what Earl is saying is right on point. I think one of the things that the country will hear Thursday is John Kerry begin to unveil his vision with some specificity and his plans for doing some of the things that have been mentioned at the table, from helping to create more jobs and better-paying jobs, to make investments in a workforce, I think Earl touched on a point that so many small business leaders complain about in the district and so does Ms. Velazquez, whos a leading Democrat in the small business community in the Congress.

Small businesses complain about the cost of health care and energy. And this administration, as Earl said so well, has not only turned their back, but it blamed Democrats for us not doing much. The reality is both the House and the Senate are controlled by the Republicans, and obviously the White House is and they have been unable to do much because they can't agree amongst themselves.

Our plan is a very clear one. We believe we should make investments in alternative fuels and other ways of doing things and new technology. Their answer is to drill more. In fact, there is no promise that we would find anything if we went drilling, and what promise we do have is we could muck up the environment up there.

RAY SUAREZ: You've all mentioned health care. Sen. Kerry has also promised to cut the deficit in half in four years. Can he make the investments that he's promising in health care, big-ticket investments, and cut the deficit in four years?

REP. HAROLD FORD, JR.: Well, as you know, he has a fact plan that would repeal some of the tax cuts of the ultra wealthy in this country and close many of the loopholes that allow for some businesses to profit while being located overseas and not paying taxes here in America. Our belief and the campaign's belief is if we do those things, you'll create additional resources to address not only the problems that small business leaders have in providing health care for their workers, although we can also make some neat investments in education and even make some neat investments in attracting more young men and women to serve in the military.

The Bush administration does a big talk on this game about the military, but the reality is they're overstretched and there's no plan on the table from the administration at this point to try to attract new men and women or I should say to try make the military an attractive life and an attractive career in America.

RAY SUAREZ: Now, Congresswoman, your colleague mentioned the tax plan. Your district includes some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in America

REP. NYDIA VELAZQUEZ: Yes.

RAY SUAREZ: -- and some of the poorest.

REP. NYDIA VELAZQUEZ: Yes.

RAY SUAREZ: So some of your constituents might be anxious to hear about health care coverage, that they don't have, but many of your constituents are going to have their tax bills go up. Are they ready to sign on to that?

REP. NYDIA VELAZQUEZ: And I will invite President Bush to come into my district and to talk to those wealthiest families in my district and they will say, "I don't want your tax cut. I would prefer that you invest in human capital in our country, that we improve the quality of education of our children."

And in order to expand our economy and to get this economy back on track, they will prefer that we reduce the deficit. But we can't do that if we do not revisit the tax cuts that they want to make it permanent. The fact of the matter is this is a president who said, "I am for businesses."

And small businesses in America thought that he was talking to them. The reality is that he was talking to big, corporate America. None of his policies have been -- have helped small businesses. When you talk to small businesses in this country, the biggest problem that they're facing is not... is health care costs. 40 percent or more of all those uninsured are either small businesses, their employees or their relatives.

And then access to capital; the president submitted a budget request cutting funding for the most important loan program for small businesses. And then he says that he wants to help small businesses but he cut the budget for the Small Business Administration by 40 percent.

RAY SUAREZ: Whoever takes the oath in January, Congressman Blumenauer, won't their hands be tied somewhat by the size of the federal deficit? You've talked about investment in the environment. Congressman Ford mentioned education. You've all talked about health care. Will the country be able to do these things?

REP. EARL BLUMENAUER: Well, I will tell you that the Bush administration would have their hands tied because they have refused to deal with the long-term costs and consequences of their programs. The approach that we have seen from Sen. Kerry are investments that will make money over time for the federal government. Investing in education, in the infrastructure, in protecting our environment, are things that are not extraordinarily costly.

The alternative is you see our Republican friends in Congress and the Bush administration, every time they come up with the most minute initiatives, they lard it with additional tax cuts and benefits. Their agricultural bill, their energy bill, $30 billion worth of additional taxes -- that adds to the deficit and ties their hands.

The Kerry-Edwards administration would not be so encumbered. We'd be able to make significant progress while meeting the needs of the American public.

RAY SUAREZ: Are blue dog Democrats ready to sign on, so-called blue dog, ready to sign on to more government spending in the way that Congressman Blumenauer talks about investments as a way of

REP. HAROLD FORD, JR.: I think Earl was answering your question directly. I think we all agree at this table -- you can look at our voting record and see that we've been committed to fiscal discipline and responsibility throughout our time.

Earl and I have served some time -- work make it sound like we were in jail with the blue dogs we work closely with blue dogs. I'm a member of the coalition. And our belief all along has been if you're going to ask for a tax cut and pass one, or ask for new spending and pass it, then you should be able to pay for it. And Democrats have offered this. I hate to be caught up in the minutiae of procedure, but we offered the Republicans an opportunity to do this. We call it pay go very simple. Whatever you're spending money on, you should be able to pay for; that's how American families and small businesses have to operate.

The second point, I make this real quick, we've given the president everything he wanted on this economic policy bill. He wanted tax cuts for this group, for that group and Republicans and some Democrats gave it to him. He made us promises that it would help all the people that Nydia touched on and even Earl in some way.

And the question I have for him, and I think the question the American people will have is: Is it really working? The president travels the country saying that the fundamentals are strong. We're creating jobs; were doing this; were doing that, but there's a big disconnect between regular folks and what the president is talking about.

When you're paying $1.90 for gasoline, youre paying more for bread, you're paying more for beer and for milk, it's a big issue. These are problems that I think we'll hear a lot from John Kerry and John Edwards over the next few days and the next two weeks as they talk about a new and different kind of tax cut for American families and American business, particularly small businesses that will replace the tax cut regime that George Bush has given.

RAY SUAREZ: Well, I'm going to have to leave it there. Congress members, thank you all.

FOCUS RISING STAR

JIM LEHRER: Now, a profile of John Kerry's choice to deliver the convention's keynote address later this evening. He's Barack Obama, and Elizabeth Brackett of WTTW-Chicago tells us all about him.

CROWD: Yes we can! Yes we can!

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: The crowd in the Chicago hotel ballroom was fired up last March. Their candidate, Illinois State Sen. Barack Obama, had pulledin a remarkable 53 percent of the vote in a seven way race for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate. Even Obama was amazed.

BARACK OBAMA: The conventional wisdom was we could not win. There was no way a skinny guy from the south side with a funny name like Barack Obama could ever win a state wide race. 16 months later, we are here. Democrats from all across Illinois, suburbs, city, down state, up state, black, white, Hispanic, Asian have declared, yes, we can!

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: It was a heady night for the 42-year-old state senator. He and his wife Michelle and their two young children watched returns in an upstairs suite never far from a camera lens. On the hurried trip down to the ballroom, Obama spied his campaign pollster.

BARACK OBAMA: Did you poll this?

POLLSTER: I told David 47 percent.

BARACK OBAMA: Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I really do.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: The next morning, Obama thanked voters for what was an impressive victory. He pulled in 93 percent of the African American vote, carried white suburban areas by wide margins, finished a surprisingly strong second in rural downstate and even did well in white ethnic areas in Chicago with a history of voting against minorities. Media consultant David Axelrod attributes the results to Obama's style.

DAVID AXELROD: He has this ability to walk into any room whether it's in the inner city, a white ethnic ward, a high toned suburban living room, or a downstate veteran's hall, and just relate perfectly well to everyone in the room and it's a great gift.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Part of Obama's ability to relate easily with all types of people may stem from his own multiracial, multicultural background. His Kansas born mother, met his Kenyan born father at the university of Hawaii in 1959. The couple lived in Hawaii until Barack was two, when his father left to study at Harvard and returned to Kenya without his family. Barack experienced another culture when he left for Indonesia with his mother and her new husband, and soon a half-sister. At age ten, he was sent back to Hawaii to attend the prestigious Punahoe Prep School while living with his grandparents.

He saw his father only once before he was killed in an auto accident. His father's death prompted him to travel to Kenya to try and understand the country and connect with his large Kenyan family. At age 33, he wrote of his unusual heritage in a memoir, "Dreams from my Father," a story of race and inheritance.

Michelle Obama says as chaotic as her husband's early life was, he did have a strong support system.

MICHELLE OBAMA: I see his very untraditional family and that worked because he had the support systems. I think there's no doubt that he struggled, but it probably made him hungrier to strive to be great.

So I think all of that combined just led to the outcomes of this wonderful stable individual who is very calm, very rooted in his values, very respectful of others and incredibly loving.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: After college, Obama took a job in Chicago organizing in low-income communities that had been hard hit by the loss of thousands of jobs in the steel mills. Wanting to be more effective, he headed to Harvard Law School where he became the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review.

Recruited by top law firms across the country, he chose a small Chicago firm specializing in civil rights and economic development in the minority community. But Judson Miner, a law firm partner, says it wasn't long before a career in politics was on the horizon.

JUDSON MINER,Miner, Barnhill, and Galland: He was so talented that I think it was reasonably clear early on that he was going to be under a lot of pressure at some point to jump into government or politics.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Three years later Obama was in the Illinois state senate representing a predominantly African American district on Chicagos south side.

BARACK OBAMA: I just want to stand in strong support of this bill; Im working with a number of the organizations throughout the state that are trying to deal with this homeless issue.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Today he focuses on the same issues of social justice in his U.S. Senate campaign.

BARACK OBAMA: If there's a child on the south side of Chicago that can't read, that makes a difference in my life even if it's not my child.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Given his stance on social issues plus his early opposition to the war in Iraq, his Republican opponent immediately charged that he was far too liberal for most Illinois voters. But shortly after, the Republican primary winner Jack Ryan said he would drop out when salacious details were revealed in his divorce records. While Republicans scrambled to find a new candidate, Obama was catapulted onto the national stage. His impressive victory, his credentials and the possibility of his becoming the only African American currently in the Senate brought national attention culminating with the invitation to give the convention's keynote address.

BARACK OBAMA: I'm going to be one of many voices. And so although it's called the keynote address, obviously the real keynote address is John Kerrys acceptance of the nomination.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: His media advisor says Obama will handle the attention.

SPOKESMAN: It would be easy to become intoxicated by all that attention, but Barack is very grounded. He always says that having grown up in Hawaii that he's learned that the tide comes in and the tide comes out, and when the tide comes in you just ride the wave, and he's riding the wave right now. But he knows, I think, that some of this is kind of illusory, ephemeral and that it's not really what's important.

BARACK OBAMA: I'm not sure it can happen? You just tell them, what are you going to tell them? Yes, we can, yes, we can!

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Well known now to Illinois voters, Obama introduces himself to the nation with his keynote address tonight.

FOCUS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

JIM LEHRER: The final speaker of the evening will be Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of John Kerry. She will take the stage tonight already flooded by a spotlight of controversy. Kwame Holman reports.

SPOKESMAN: It's my great honor everyone to introduce to you that great partner of John Kerry, Americas next first lady, Teresa Heinz Kerry.

KWAME HOLMAN: For nearly a year, Teresa Heinz Kerry has been a fixture on the campaign trail, where she's earned a reputation both for speaking her mind and winning support for her husband.

SEN. JOHN KERRY: There's a great sign: "Elect Teresa first lady." Not a bad idea.

KWAME HOLMAN: On the road, the 65- year-old Heinz Kerry frequently mentions her immigrant status; she was born in Mozambique and raised there by her European parents.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: What I saw from abroad, from a third world country, the face of America was a face very different from what I knew. It was a face of can do, of optimism, of generosity, generosity of spirit, smile. We have to go back to that. We must go back to being Americans in the best sense of the word.

KWAME HOLMAN: On Sunday, before delegates from her home state of Pennsylvania, Heinz Kerry again talked about what it means to be an American, but this time her words sparked controversy.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: We need to turn back some of the creepy un-Pennsylvanian and sometimes un-American traits that are coming into some of our politics.

KWAME HOLMAN: Afterward, an editorial writer from a conservative Pittsburgh newspaper questioned her.

REPORTER: Un-American activity? You mentioned un-American?

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: No, I did not say that.

REPORTER: What did you mean?

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: I did not say that.

REPORTER: Well, what did you say?

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: I did not say that.

KWAME HOLMAN: Heinz Kerry moved away, but returned.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: Are you from the Tribune Review?

REPORTER: Yes, I am.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: Of course.

REPORTER: Come here.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: Understandable. You said something I didn't say, now shove it.

KWAME HOLMAN: Later, her husband had this to say:

SEN. JOHN KERRY: I think my wife speaks her mind appropriately.

KWAME HOLMAN: Some of Heinz Kerry's past words were on the front page of today's Boston Herald. In a book published 30 years ago, Heinz Kerry is quoted as saying of Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, "Ted Kennedy, I don't trust." Heinz Kerry said, "I think he's a perfect bastard," suggesting Kennedy stayed married in order to court catholic voters. At the time, Heinz Kerry was married to John Heinz, Republican Senator of Pennsylvania. Sen. Heinz was killed in a plane crash in 1991. The two had three sons, now in their 30s. After Sen. Heinz's death, Heinz Kerry oversaw an array of Heinz family foundations, worth about $1.2 billion. Heinz Kerry's personal worth is estimated at more than $500 million.

JIM LEHRER: Now some historical words now on presidential spouses and other matters of the evening, and to Margaret Warner.

MARGARET WARNER: And for that, we turn to our NewsHour regulars, presidential historians Michael Beschloss and Richard Norton Smith.

And joining us again is Ellen Fitzpatrick, professor of history at the University of New Hampshire.

Welcome back, everybody.

GROUP: Thank you.

MARGARET WARNER: Michael, have we ever had such a blunt-spoken, publicly candid potential first lady?

MICHAEL BESCHLOSS: Sure we have. Eleanor Roosevelt made her husband very irritated by saying in public that he was too slow in doing things for African Americans. Betty Ford gave a famous interview to 60 Minutes, the CBS program, 1975, talking about the possibility of her daughter living in sin and her children smoking marijuana and abortion that got her husband, Gerald Ford, into a lot of hot water with the conservative wing of his party at a time he could ill afford it.

MARGARET WARNER: So there's a long tradition of this, Richard?

RICHARD NORTON SMITH: It's a longer tradition probably than many people might think. And, in fact, Eleanor Roosevelt actually was the first first lady to deliver a political address before a convention. It was a very significant moment in time. She came here at her husband's behest in 1940. This was a convention about to revolt. The president wanted Henry Wallace, a left-wing Democrat, to replace Vice President John Nance Garner. This was, after all, on the eve of American participation in World War II. Mrs. Roosevelt flew to the convention. She spoke briefly, powerfully and she got what she wanted. Henry Wallace, frankly the delegates didn't want him, but Mrs. Roosevelt wanted him. That was good enough for her.

MARGARET WARNER: I'm surprised no one has mentioned Hillary Clinton.

ELLEN FITZPATRICK: Well, I thinkshe demonstrates the fact that Theresa Heinz is not the inventor of the inept phrase. It was Hillary Clinton, after all, who talked about the fact that she wasn't going to sit home and bake cookies, that she wasn't some little Tammy Wynette, ironically, she said, standing by her man. She was criticized for these things. You remember Barbara Bush saying that Hillary Clinton reminded her of someone who reminded... whose name rhymed with rich, a word that rhymed with rich.

MARGARET WARNER: Geraldine Ferraro --

ELLEN FITZPATRICK: Well, these were indelicate comments from women who had tremendous visibility and who, you know, got in some hot water as a result.

MARGARET WARNER: So, as Richard points out, she also is not the first to address a major party convention. When did it become... Eleanor Roosevelt was an exception in her time, but when did it in the modern era become a tradition?

MICHAEL BESCHLOSS: Pretty recently. For instance, Nancy Reagan in 1984 appeared at the Republican Convention before her husband was there in Dallas and famously waved at a huge image of Ron Reagan, Ronald Reagan, who was in his hotel room in Dallas waiting to be nominated. So these things have gotten more and more for a couple reasons. If you have a wife, especially a popular one, who has a high queue rating, very popular, it only helps the presidential candidate. A more important one is this: If you're trying make a vote for president, one of the things you're judging is what this human being is like. And one of the things that tells us is what is the guy's family like, his spouse, what are his children like, what kind of a relationship does he have with them, and especially for a candidate who most people did not know very much about until very recently, like John Kerry, for Theresa Heinz to be here this evening or Theresa Heinz Kerry, that's going to make a big impression.

MARGARET WARNER: Richard, everything Theresa Heinz Kerry says is just seen under a microscope and jumped on. Why this fascination at this early a stage with someone like this? I mean, is it... is it a sort of sign of our culture today?

RICHARD NORTON SMITH: Sure it is. I mean, this may be heresy, but remember when Dan Quayle was put on the ticket...

MICHAEL BESCHLOSS: More than heresy.

RICHARD NORTON SMITH: That's right. When Dan Quayle was put on the ticket, in his first hours on the ticket he was defined, and frankly not to his advantage. In some ways a first lady is a running mate. Michael's absolutely right. This tells you so much about the dynamic of the candidate. There are so many issues out there that are so abstract. We don't expect as individual voters to be able to solve them. We don't even necessarily expect our leaders to solve them, but we can all understand a husband, a father, a family life. These are the universals.

MARGARET WARNER: Say in the 1950s, there was not this fascination with say a Mamie Eisenhower. Do you think, Ellen, it reflects also American's understanding of what influence wives have with their husband and vice versa, that they aren't just sitting home running the house?

ELLEN FITZPATRICK: I think it also reflects changes in women's roles in the modern period, that is that first lady is also a wife and the statement is that a wife is not a decorative object. She is a person. And part of what featuring these women does is to demonstrate the complexity of women's lives, their accomplishments, even women who may not have careers outside the home. And so we do see that in this effort to bring these women forward.

MARGARET WARNER: But I mean do you think that is why Americans, even if the candidate were trying to bring his wife forward, are inordinately fascinated at this point with the wives?

ELLEN FITZPATRICK: I think

MARGARET WARNER: Look what happened with Judy Dean, for instance.

ELLEN FITZPATRICK: It's partly that, but I think it also reflects in some ways on the personal in American politics today, that rather than discussing some of the very problematic issues, people have tremendous interest in our culture, in peoples' private lives.

MARGARET WARNER: Now the other big speaker tonight, Michael, is, of course, Edward -- Ted Kennedy. We're in Boston, his hometown. He brought the convention to this town. What does he represent to the Democratic Party?

MICHAEL BESCHLOSS: Well, first of all, he's someone who did, as you say, bring the convention to this town. We wouldn't be sitting here in Boston at this convention if Ted Kennedy had not very eagerly wanted to bring it here. Another thing is because Ted Kennedy made it possible for John Kerry to be nominated. We're talking about character witnesses. Before the Iowa caucuses, few Iowans had heard about John Kerry. Kennedy went to Iowa and said, this is someone that I can vouch for. More than that, links to the Kennedy family, sort of the central narrative of the Democratic Party in many ways of the last 100 years, Irish immigrants, generations of public servants of the Democratic Party evolved through conservative Joseph Kennedy to more liberal John Kennedy to Edward Kennedy who in a way has defined liberalism for the last 40 years and become one of the great senators in history.

MARGARET WARNER: What's your sense of why Ted Kennedy is such a major figure now? In sort of historical terms I mean, he's almost iconic, isn't he?

RICHARD NORTON SMITH: He's lived iconic. He's lived on the two lives that were cut short so tragically. In some way thats a burden and in some ways it's a great opportunity. Many would argue that he has been the best of it; he is regarded as a great senator. You know, in the United States Capitol, there is a Senate reception room. John F. Kennedy almost half century ago was on a committee to decide which immortals would be put on the walls, Clay, Webster, Lafollette, and others, and there are a few spaces left on that wall. I would be very surprised if thirty or forty years from now Ted Kennedy's face is not one of them. So there's a dimension to this man that is iconic, but is also very practical. And, remember, he's exercised leadership of the liberal wing of the party in times of adversity, when it has not been popular to uphold the positions that he, from which he has never wavered.

MARGARET WARNER: Richard, also tie him I dont know if this is true or not but Ive read in local papers that hes actually going to talk a lot about Boston and Boston as an important city in the Democratic Party and the liberal tradition in America.

RICHARD NORTON SMITH: Its an incubator. I mean, there's a street corner nearby here, you can look at the old south meeting house where the tea party began. That's the populist strain of the Democratic Party. On the other side is the old corner book house -- the literary and intellectual and academic strain of the modern Democratic Party, the brains trust, the Harvards, as Lyndon Johnson used to say. And right in the middle is a memorial to victims of the Irish Potato Famine, so you have the immigrant strain; they all come together in this city -- they all come together in Ted Kennedy.

ELLEN FITZPATRICK: He's also the liberal's standard bearer of the party. And I think we shouldn't forget that he represents a thread of continuity in the Democratic Party. There was a time in America when liberalism was seen as the fresh and vigorous and new set of ideas. And in the early 1960s, his brother exemplified that new generation. His brother Robert carried that on into the '60s into a much darker period. His brother died on the way to a Democratic Convention. He would have presumably been in 1968 at that convention if not the nominee. And so here we have this strain of continuity in the person of Ted Kennedy.

MARGARET WARNER: And yet, Michael, the liberal... the power of the liberal idea hung on a lot more in this party than it did in the country as a whole, and Kennedy was, Ted Kennedy was always the leading figure in that

MICHAEL BESCHLOSS: Probably so, and I agree with Richard. I think that whatever your ideology, Ted Kennedy will be considered one of the great senators in history, probably will be on that capitol hall wall. That's why he's here. But the other thing is in a way, although there are many parts of this country in which Ted Kennedy is reviled as a liberal, his stature is great enough that even in a convention, as we've been saying for the last 24 hours, where the minders are making sure that everyone sounds as friendly and centrist as possible, this is Ted Kennedy night to a great extent and John Kerry considers that an asset.

MARGARET WARNER: All right. Michael, Richard and Ellen, we'll see you later in the convention. Thank you.

FOCUS SHIELDS & BROOKS

JIM LEHRER: And, finally, the observations of Shields and Brooks, syndicated columnist Mark Shields, and New York Times columnist David Brooks.

David, what is tonight about?

DAVID BROOKS: Liberal night. Ted Kennedy, we also have Dick Gephardt speaking, youre going to have a little tribute to FDR. This is the night when we begin to see true liberalism on display. This may be the only time during this convention. You know, I think that's risky but important, risky because the country really...

JIM LEHRER: You forgot Howard Dean.

DAVID BROOKS: Howard Dean well, he was a liberal for about six months. I suspect he's come back to the center again. He was a liberal when it paid. I think that's important because, first of all, that is the legacy of this party, FDR, the civil rights movement, the '60s. That's also the convictions for a lot of people in this party. There's a slight danger for people in this party to be so prudential and controlled that they lose people. It just shows...

JIM LEHRER: They lose their own people you mean?

DAVID BROOKS: They lose their own people. They lose other people. Most Americans do not see left and right. They're confused about which party stands for which. But they do recognize conviction. There's always the danger of going too far left for this party, as for the Republicans going too far right. There's also the danger of going too artificial. And I just think people want to see some true convictions-- just let it rip. I'd like to see a little of that from Ted Kennedy. Dick Gephardt is not that sort of person. But I would like to see that to show this party has a soul.

JIM LEHRER: Let it rip?

MARK SHIELDS: I think you'll hear the soul of the campaign of 2004 I think was Howard Dean and was John Edwards. I don't think there's any question. You'll hear that tomorrow night. But I agree with David, Jim, that Ted Kennedy is a central figure to this party. I mean, there is no accident that we're talking about two young naval lieutenants who in the Pacific saw combat and got the scars of battle. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, John Forbes Kerry, Ted Kennedy is the one link to those two that can stand up there and speak about both of them convincingly and compare John Kerry favorably, something John Kerry could never do for himself, and no other character witness can do for him. So I mean in that sense he can establish John Kerry, and let's be very frank about it, John Kerry would not be the nominee of this party if Ted Kennedy had not...

JIM LEHRER: Explain that. In practical terms, you really mean that?

MARK SHIELDS: I really mean that. There is no question. Last fall, John Kerry's fortunes and fate had plummeted. He'd been the early front- runner, hed been the logical choice.

JIM LEHRER: We'd already crowned Howard Dean by then, most of us in our line of work.

MARK SHIELDS: That's right. But then Howard Dean emerged, eclipsed him. He was foundering. It was a campaign in search of a purpose and a mission. And Ted Kennedy came along and fired it up. I mean, he was with him when the going got tough, when he got in that fox hole, Ted Kennedy was there every step of the way.

JIM LEHRER: What did he do?

MARK SHIELDS: He fired up his own troops, first of all. First of all, John Kerry went through... you're never supposed to in a presidential campaign, total shake-up of his campaign leadership. Ted Kennedy gave him his own chief of staff and one of his more gifted campaign persons, Mary Beth Cahill, to run his campaign. He gave him Stephanie Cutter, who is his own communications chief and press secretary to do that for John Kerry. Ted Kennedy made it abundantly clear that he was committed. He went everywhere for him. I think he, for one thing, gave John Kerry a sense that he could win. Ted Kennedy's example, leadership and passion was crucial during those darkest hours. Add to it -- there were two other members of the Massachusetts delegation who also deserve special praise, Congressman Ed Markey and Congressman Barney Frank, both of whom, when Kerry was at the darkest point, supported him.

JIM LEHRER: Now, back to your point about how Ted Kennedy following up there, how he is the soul and you want to see some of the soul, but from a Republican point of view, I mean, isn't he the number-one demon? Don't they want to wrap Ted Kennedy all the way around John Kerry?

DAVID BROOKS: I think John Kerry's going to have to make his own personality and show he's not as left wing as Ted Kennedy. That's going to be a problem. But I don't care. Most people-- I go back to this fact-- most people don't think ideologically.

JIM LEHRER: But they know about Ted Kennedy.

DAVID BROOKS: They know about Ted Kennedy. They know about Ted Kennedy because of Chappaquiddick. They think of certain personal failings. I don't think they'd transfer to John Kerry. I don't think John Kerry's primary weakness is that he's too liberal. The Republicans are going to try to hang that on him, but that's not his primary weakness. His primary weakness is he's a flip-flopper who can't make a decision, who doesn't have core principles, who can't connect with people. That's the primary weakness.

JIM LEHRER: From the Republican point of view?

DAVID BROOKS: If you have an entire convention day after day, which is packaged, prudential, cold and calculated, that underlines that weakness. I think that's the greater weakness that they should be worrying about.

JIM LEHRER: So in other words, it's real to have Ted Kennedy speak and speak his soul at a John Kerry convention. Anything less than that would be unreal?

DAVID BROOKS: I think it's real for the Democratic Party. If you look at these Democrats, these people on the floor here, they agree with Ted Kennedy. They agree with what Howard Dean was saying. They agree with Dick Gephardt. This is who they are. Be who you are for a little while. It just resonates, "well, I don't care about the ideology."

JIM LEHRER: Do you agree out in the country that Ted Kennedy helps John Kerry? I'm not talking about the undecided voters, not the hard- core Democrats in this hall or out there, I'm talking about the other folks.

MARK SHIELDS: I think Ted Kennedy plays better in this hall than he does in the country among undecided voters. I think what Ted Kennedy can be is, as Al Gore was last night, as Bill Clinton was last night, is a character witness for John Kerry who is an antidote and a rebuttal to the charges that David made that he's a flip- flopper or that he's removed. Ted Kennedy, they talk about the fights he's led, whether it's a POW-MIA and took his own personal experience and continued that in his own public career, I think that's part of Ted Kennedy. Ted Kennedy and John Kerry are not, and have historically not been nearly as close as senators. Very rarely, Jim, do you find two senators from the same party from the same state who are close-- very, very rarely. I could think of two exceptions in all the time I've been in Washington -- because they're both basically fighting for the undivided attention and affection of the same woman. That's the electorate of the state.

DAVID BROOKS: That's particularly true in Kennedy's case.

MARK SHIELDS: I think that one of the things that... one of the remarks made in the piece of Teresa Heinz about what she said unflatteringly about Ted Kennedy, that relationship between Heinz and Kerry has been helped enormously by Teresa Heinz and Vicki Kennedy, Ted Kennedy's wife, who are good friends. I think they've brought them closer together. They disagreed on issues. They have not been in lock step on a whole bunch of issues.

JIM LEHRER: What's your wisdom on Teresa Heinz Kerry?

DAVID BROOKS: I like her. When I first saw this couple, I thought that he was normal, and she was weird. Now I realize that she's normal and he's weird. I sort of... I think that she's smart. If you go back to testimony she's given on having to do with her foundation, its substantive, intelligent, she's totally herself. She's totally authentic. She does not smile when most political wives smile. She does not wave. She refuses to do that. At first watching her on the campaign trail, I thought she was going to crack up. Then you realize, that's who she is. I've come grudgingly to have quite a lot of respect for her.

JIM LEHRER: The "shove it" thing doesn't bother you?

DAVID BROOKS: No. People should be able to allowed to speak their minds.

MARK SHIELDS: When she said she does speak her mind. She said in Iowa, "I don't think personally that anyone is ever qualified enough to the president." And she said, "but my husband John, he is pretty close to it." You don't get wives talking that way. We've really got this standoff. Laura Bush is an enormously popular figure.

JIM LEHRER: She's one of the most popular figures...

MARK SHIELDS: She really is

JIM LEHRER: I saw a poll she's maybe the most popular first lady ever.

MARK SHIELDS: That causes some tension at Kennebunkport when the Bushes get together, generationally, you can be sure. But we have... this is a competing types. I don't think in the final analysis that people vote on the basis of first ladies, but I think it does tell you something about one's comfort level with a strong, independent woman and, you know, what this convention is about, what kind of a person is John Kerry, what kind of a president will he be, can I have confidence in him, am I comfortable with him? That's what last night and somewhat tonight -- tonight gets you to the future. Last night was about the past. Yes, Ted Kennedy was a character witness and the rest of it, but I think with the keynote we get to the future.

JIM LEHRER: For most people, too, for Teresa Heinz Kerry, this is the first time anybody's seen her at any length. Up to now it's been snippets. It should be interesting to see. We'll be back here to talk about it then. Thank you.

NEWS SUMMARY

JIM LEHRER: In the non-convention news of this day, a major Muslim charity in the United States was formally accused of supporting terrorist activities. A federal indictment named Holy Land Foundation, based in Dallas. The group was officially shut down after the 9/11 attacks. It's charged with conspiracy, money laundering, and dealing with terrorists, especially the militant group Hamas. The foundation's executive director, chairman, and five other men were also charged. A Jordanian company announced today it's halting operations at a U.S. Military base in Iraq. Two of its workers are being held as hostages. Kidnappers have threatened to kill them if the company does not withdraw. In Hungary today, U.S. Secretary of State Powell warned against letting the kidnappers have their way. He said: This is the time for us to be steadfast, not get weak in the knees. The death toll from flooding in Bangladesh rose to more than 400 today, with another ten million homeless. We have a report narrated by John Irvine of Independent Television News.

JOHN IRVINE: Bangladesh isn't even half the country it was a month ago. It's been shrinking fast, and now two-thirds of it is underwater. Several factors have conspired against this impoverished state and her people. Not only has the monsoon been especially heavy, but high tides in the Bay of Bengal have inhibited the flow of river water out to sea. So Bangladesh, which is basically a river delta, has been filling up. In the capital, Dhaka, highways have been transformed into waterways. Movement of any kind has become difficult. It's impossible for most people to avoid the water, which is increasingly filthy. The poorest of the poor, the millions of slum dwellers, have had to flee their low-lying homes. Food and fresh water are becoming scarce. Many people are now relying on government handouts for both. If the waters recede, epidemics and starvation will still threaten. And, of course, the waters mightn't recede, for the monsoon season still has two months to go.

JIM LEHRER: Flooding in recent weeks has killed more than 1,100 people across all of Southeast Asia. Palestinian Prime Minister Quereia ended his ten-day standoff with Yasser Arafat today. The two men kissed and embraced after meeting in Ramallah, then they announced an end to their confrontation. Palestinian officials said Arafat gave up some control over security forces, and agreed to probes of corruption. In turn, Quereia agreed not to resign. In U.S. economic news, consumer confidence rose in July to its highest level in two years. The Conference Board, a business research group, reported that today. It was the fourth straight monthly gain. On Wall Street today, the report helped send stocks higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 123 points to close at 10,085. The NASDAQ rose 30 points to close at 1869. We'll see you again at 8:00 P.M. Eastern time with our live coverage of the Democratic Convention here in Boston. Then again here at our regular NewsHour time tomorrow evening. We also have further convention coverage online. For now, I'm Jim Lehrer. Thank you and good night.