For Kerry, a chance to connect with vital bloc

Here's the current African American take on John Kerry:

The downside is that he's not Bill Clinton. But the upside is that he's not George W. Bush.

And that might be enough to trigger a huge turnout in November. Most blacks aren't swooning over Kerry - they typically see him as a stiff white guy, a talking advertisement for Sominex - but that sentiment is trumped by an antipathy toward Bush that might humble even Michael Moore.

Kerry is to address the NAACP convention in Philadelphia this morning, and he will try to bond emotionally with his listeners, who represent the most loyal voting bloc in the Democratic Party. His task is essential, because he has virtually no chance of winning the race without their herculean assistance. Blacks cast 20 percent of Al Gore's votes four years ago, and, at a minimum, that same share will be needed again.

But, in the wake of the whirlwind primaries, they still are not sure who Kerry is. Clinton was a Southern boy who hung out in black churches; he was easy to relate to. And Gore had been longtime friends with civil rights activist Benjamin Hooks - a fellow Tennessean who later headed the NAACP.

NAACP delegate Leonard Martin, a Verizon employee in New York, said yesterday: "I don't 'feel' Kerry. There's not enough about his background that we can really sink our teeth into. Is he a person of character, or just a typical politician?"

Delegate Robert Trotter, a retired social worker from North Carolina, said: "He sort of slipped in. Early in the primaries, we were talking about Howard Dean. We weren't looking to Kerry, maybe because he wasn't charismatic. Maybe because he wasn't saying things we could easily remember. Maybe because he was from Massachusetts, where Ted Kennedy puts you in the shadow."

There has been much talk in recent weeks that Kerry's sketchy profile and warmth deficit could dampen black enthusiasm, and perhaps imperil his candidacy in the battleground states where Democrats need a big minority turnout the most (Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri). Nor did he benefit from the springtime flap over the racial makeup of his inner circle - all nine members of whom were Caucasian.