Aides nurture Kerry's appeal (Boston Globe on Kerry's likeability)

The Boston Globe on Kerry's likeability- "From union workers in Ohio and antiwar activists in Georgia to African-American Democrats in California and young New Yorkers like Paulson, dozens of voters interviewed over the last week said they were just starting to search for reasons to like Kerry."

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/kerry/articles/2004/03/02/aides_nurture_kerrys_appeal/

Aides nurture Kerry's appeal
By Patrick Healy, Globe Staff, 3/2/2004

NEW YORK -- Douglas Paulson …. now says he is "90 percent certain" he will vote for John F. Kerry in today's New York primary…He isn't precisely sure why.

"The Democratic race is pretty much over, unfortunately, and Kerry looks like the best person we have right now to beat Bush," said Paulson, 27, as he waited for the Democratic front-runner to speak at a Brooklyn college auditorium last weekend. "Superficially, Kerry looks pretty good, but I don't know much about him."

From union workers in Ohio and antiwar activists in Georgia to African-American Democrats in California and young New Yorkers like Paulson, dozens of voters interviewed over the last week said they were just starting to search for reasons to like Kerry.<snip>

That could spell trouble down the road, political analysts say, if he does not fire up bedrock Democratic constituencies or inspire more Americans to see him as a likable sort, in the way many now see Edwards and Bush.<snip>

Many of these same voters acknowledged that it was an image of Kerry -- Kennedyesque, a war hero -- that attracted them, rather than a certainty that he was the best standard-bearer among all Democratic leaders in Washington or the state capitals.

"He looks and sounds very presidential, especially when he's talking about national security, and you're going to need that in a debate with George Bush," said John Valin, a graphic designer in Atlanta. Valin described himself as a former Dean supporter who wished the former Vermont governor had not dropped out of the race. "Now it's more about beating Bush for me. . . . I just want to make sure Kerry can win."<snip>