Kerry reaches out to middle while Chimpy is still wooing his base

[joanne]

LAMAR, Colo., Aug. 7 - Cruising across the country on a post-convention tour by road, water and rail, John Kerry has begun reaching out to moderate, undecided voters with a general-election message that suggests he is more confident in his base than President Bush is in his own.

Indeed, while Democrats note that Mr. Bush continues to talk about banning gay marriage and late-term abortions, and to visit bedrock Republican areas of the country like Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Mr. Kerry, the Democrat from Massachusetts, is rolling through the Great Plains and the high plateaus of the Southwest preaching fiscal responsibility, tax cuts, gun owners' rights and national security.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/08/politics/campaign/08memo.html