Kerry to the Center!

It

turns out John Kerry doesn't like nuance so much after all. His speech last week in Phoenix, Ariz., before the Democratic Leadership Council used the word strength — or strong or stronger or strongest — three dozen times, marking the presumptive presidential nominee's most obvious pitch yet to prove he's not your dad's Democrat. But it's not the only noticeable change in his rhetoric since he swept up left-leaning voters in the primaries. Kerry has dropped references to "Benedict Arnold CEOs" who outsource U.S. jobs, preferring instead to talk about his proposed tax cuts for corporations. To prove he's a fiscal disciplinarian, Kerry scaled back his plans to increase aid to states.

During the primary season, Kerry focused heavily on boosting education funding and seemed lukewarm about measures President Bush had put in place stressing school accountability and student testing. But last week on his education tour, Kerry was emphasizing teacher performance. In exchange for ramping up salaries and training and mentoring programs, Kerry would make it easier for schools to fire incompetent teachers. He would also require new ones to pass rigorous tests and tie some rewards for teachers to their students' test scores. Those are not the sorts of things teachers' unions tend to favor. When Kerry spotlights his health-care plans this week, he will stress savings for business more than universal coverage, the Democrats' typical rallying cry. And in coming weeks, the former prosecutor will highlight his tough-on-crime credentials, blasting Bush for cutting back on funding to put cops on the street.

Candidates often move to the middle once they have won their party's nomination. But will Kerry stay the course? "Really, it comes together at the convention," says Democratic pollster Mark Penn, who helped Bill Clinton frame his middle-of-the-road image. "You either come out with a centrist message or you don't." Kerry advisers insist their man will take a centrist course right through November.