http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25955-2004Jul29.html?referrer=email<snip>
BOSTON, July 29 -- John F. Kerry staked his hopes for the White House Thursday night on a gamble that would have seemed almost unimaginable for a Democrat not so long ago, challenging President Bush to a debate on the twin pillars of Republican success: values and security.
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He invoked the flag to challenge the Republicans on values, an area of political debate where Democrats have consistently been on the defensive in recent years. As with security, Kerry sought to demonstrate that Republicans have taken the wrong road. But the core of his argument was that the values championed by Republicans divide the country while the values he promotes would lift up the country.
He talked about his own faith to dispel the image of the Democrats as a party hostile to religion, but he said that, unlike some other politicians, "I don't wear my religion on my sleeve." Faith, he said, had infused him with the kind of values -- economic justice, taking care of the elderly by preserving Social Security, protecting the environment and educating children -- that Democrats have long championed.
Kerry's emphasis on redefining the values debate signaled to Democrats that he would not shrink from the GOP attacks the way Michael S. Dukakis did in 1988, and one of his biggest applause lines came when he challenged Bush not to use the Constitution for political purposes, a reference to the president's call for an amendment to bar same-sex marriage. But he otherwise avoided any direct discussion of the kinds of social issues that have long put the Democrats on the defensive, from gay rights to gun rights. No matter what he does to try to change the debate, he will find Republicans eager to challenge him on these issues.
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