BOSTON (Reuters) - A unified Democratic Party on Sunday readied an upbeat, positive coronation for White House hopeful John Kerry on the eve of a national convention held amid unprecedented security -- but without threatened union disruptions.þþWith police sharpshooters on nearby rooftops, streets closed and security barricades erected around the Fleet Center convention site, thousands of delegates and visitors prepared for Monday's start of the four-day convention to nominate Kerry to challenge President Bush.þþKerry and party leaders promised speakers at the convention would limit their criticism of Bush and focus on showcasing Kerry's life story and the Democratic agenda for boosting the economy, rebuilding foreign alliances and protecting the country.þþ``What we really need to do in America, frankly, is stop shouting at each other and start listening to each other,'' Kerry said on Sunday when his visit to the front porch of a Columbus, Ohio, couple was interrupted by shouting protesters.þþBoston convention organizers dodged potential union strife when the firefighter's union reached a contract agreement with the city and called off plans to picket welcoming parties for some delegations.þþA rally protest planned for a downtown Boston park drew fewer than 1,000 demonstrators to protest the war in Iraq. Violence flared briefly when an antiabortion protester was attacked as he carried a poster featuring a bloody fetus.þþPolice broke up the scuffle and led the man away from the park for his safety.þþKerry, a four-term Massachusetts senator, decorated Vietnam War veteran and former prosecutor, hopes the convention will help introduce him to undecided swing voters who could decide his November showdown with Bush. þþKNOW HIM LIKE EDWARDS DOESþþPolls show many voters are still unfamiliar with Kerry. His vice presidential running mate John Edwards told ABC's ``This Week'' that voters ``need to see the John Kerry that I see. Most people in the country, they just don't know him well yet.''þþEdwards predicted failure for Republican efforts to paint the Democratic ticket as liberals who were out of touch with the mainstream on social issues like abortion and gun control.þþ``It seems to me the responsibility of a president and a vice president is to try to bridge those very difficult gaps and to unite the country, instead of using them as a political tool to divide the country,'' he said.þþKerry was in the key battleground state of Ohio for two events during a six-day cross-country tour back to his hometown of Boston for the convention, where a series of speakers and presentations will try to give voters a warmer view of the sometimes stiff candidate.þþHe made a surprise visit to Boston on Sunday night, however, so he could throw out the first pitch at the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees baseball game at Fenway Park. He was to fly out afterward for scheduled campaign stops in Florida.þþEarlier on Sunday, during a visit to a black church in Columbus, he assured churchgoers he shared their ``common future, hopes and dreams.'' He drew a protest from one member who stood and shouted, ``Sit down ... you big phony.''þþKerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said the campaign was reviewing the planned speeches at the convention to ensure they fit the event's positive theme, although Democrats admitted some anti-Bush fervor would surface.þþ``This is the most unified convention the Democratic Party has ever had,'' said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, co-chairman of the convention. ``There won't be any bashing of the president -- well, hang on, there will be some of that.''þþThe four-day convention will be capped by Kerry's nationally televised, prime-time acceptance speech on Thursday in what could be his biggest opportunity to reach voters until the fall series of three debates with Bush.þþDemocratic worries the convention could be disrupted by union pickets disappeared with Sunday's pay deal with the firefighters union. The 11th hour deal came just days after an arbitrator awarded a similar contract to the Boston police union.þþBoth unions said they would drop plans to set up potentially embarrassing picket lines outside nearly 30 parties for delegates set for Sunday night. ``The picket lines are down for all parties,'' said Jim Barry, a spokesman for the police union.þþþþ
Source: NY Times
