My favorite political bumper sticker of the season reads: “Re-defeat George Bush.” And if that is indeed John Kerry’s goal, he’ll need to do more than tell voters why they shouldn’t vote for the incumbent in November. This week’s Democratic National Convention in Boston provides the ideal setting for Kerry to shed his reserve and lackluster stump speech and draw a sharp contrast between his vision for America and the failed domestic and international policies of George W. Bush.

So far, the junior senator from Massachusetts has been able to avoid the mistake of fellow Bay State resident Michael Dukakis by quickly and strongly replying to volleys launched by GOP bombthrowers. What remains to be seen is whether he will repeat the mistakes of Al Gore by distancing himself from his core constituents and being timid in taking on the GOP attack machine.

I had no doubt about Kerry’s ability to excite the party faithful until I read his address to the annual convention of the NAACP and Bush’s speech to the National Urban League. Unlike last year’s rambling presentation to the Urban League Pittsburgh, Bush’s speech this year was sharper. The president pointed to a growth in Black home ownership under his administration, increased federal funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the need for continued civil rights vigilance.

Bush’s speech was notable for what it did not mention – his opposition to a University of Michigan Law School affirmative action program that even a conservative U.S. Supreme Court upheld, his packing the federal judiciary with Right-wing ideologues, his refusal to meet regularly with legitimate Black leaders and his pledge to appoint Supreme Court justices in the mold of Clarence Thomas and Anton Scalia.

This should have been a slam-dunk for Kerry, but it wasn’t. His NAACP speech was insipid and contained mere drive-by mentions of his plans for education, ending the “division between the fortunate America and the forgotten America,” and curbing a Black unemployment rate that is twice that of Whites.

When Kerry briefly mentions that he will expand the number of Black businesses, increase home ownership and do more to assist faith-based institutions, he sounds like a Democratic version of George Bush. He’ll never win the election being a photocopy of a Republican. How is he going to strengthen affirmative action? What will a Kerry administration do to increase affordable housing, not just Section 8? What are his plans for Black colleges? What is his overall domestic agenda?

Ironically, there have been a number of political shifts that might favor Kerry. A poll made public last week by the Pew Research Center For the People & The Press has plenty of encouraging news for the Democratic nominee. If the election were held today, registered voters polled favor Kerry over Bush 46 percent to 44 percent. When asked which party does a better job of handling the economy, foreign policy and education, Democrats were favored over Republicans. The poll has a margin of error that ranged from plus or minus 2.5 percentage points to 3.5 percentage points.

Bush led last month in the battleground states by 11 points (49 percent to 38 percent). But Kerry now edges Bush in those states, 47 percent to 41 percent.

Over the past two years, Democrats have improved their standings on the two key issues – the war in Iraq and the economy. In the fall of 2002, Democrats and Republicans were virtually tied on who best would handle the economy. Today, 46 percent of the public says the Democratic Party can do a better job, compared to 34 percent for Republicans.

After seeing the GOP viewed as being better in the foreign affairs arena, the public is now divided. Republicans are seen as being able to do a better job in Iraq by a margin of 40 percent to 38 percent, but the numbers are switched when considering who would do best in overall foreign policy.

In one of the more dramatic reversals, Republicans have been traditionally seen as being the best party to improve morality. When Bush was inaugurated, Republicans held a comfortable 23-point advantage. However, in the most recent poll, that lead is now down to two points, 37 percent to 35 percent.

These numbers show that the GOP attack ads have had little, if any, success in mis-defining John Kerry. If he can clearly define himself this week in Boston, Democrats will move one step closer to “re-defeating” George W. Bush.