Can John Kerry Sell John Kerry?

I've watched the Kerry surge with amazement. I've asked myself how Kerry is persuading previously skeptical voters to change their minds about him. The answer is, he isn't. Other people are doing the persuasion. Other people are doing the testimonial ads, as first lady Christie Vilsack did for Kerry in Iowa. Other people are firing up his crowds. Other people are telling his story. Other people are touting his virtues at rallies because he doesn't reliably display those virtues himself. The man who stood up to serve his country as a soldier is being propped up as a candidate.

At Edwards' rally, the candidate was introduced for maybe three minutes and spent the rest of the event making the pitch himself. A Kerry rally is nothing like that. It's more like a roast. First Shaheen sang Kerry's praises. Then a former state senator sang Kerry's praises. Then Ted Kennedy sang Kerry's praises. Then Kennedy's son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., sang Kerry's praises. Then Kerry spoke for a bit and handed the mike to his stepson and wife, who sang Kerry's praises. It's like going to a concert and sitting through a bunch of speeches in which the musician's friends attest, "This guy can sing."

Ted Kennedy's liberal credentials are only one of the reasons he's been warming up crowds for Kerry the past two weeks. The other reason is that Kennedy is twice the barn-burner Kerry ever could be. Kennedy's voice booms. At each stop, he makes well-worn stories sound fresh and ad libs the rest. Kerry can't ad lib to save his life.

Kerry hopes Cleland will put Republicans to shame for what they did to Cleland. But as a retail politician, the guy Cleland puts to shame is Kerry. For 15 minutes, Kerry lumbered around the stage in Nashua, poking his finger in the air and otherwise treating the rest of his body as a trunk from which to hang one moving arm. Then the music cranked up, and Cleland started to boogie in his wheelchair, his brow furrowed suggestively, his hips and shoulders gyrating to the beat. The guy with four limbs was using one, while the guy with one limb was using four. It makes you want to scream over the music that the wrong veteran is running for president.

If only Cleland could be on stage next fall to prop up Kerry in the debates with President Bush. If only Kennedy and Shaheen and all those congressmen could be there, too. But they can't. If you nominate Kerry, you don't get the sales force. You just get him.