Buffalo, N.Y., March 01: John Kerry strode on to the stage to music from ''The Natural,'' a mystical 1984 movie about an exceptionally gifted baseball player filmed partly in Buffalo. As a metaphor, it may have been a bit of a stretch for the Massachusetts senator who is seeking the political equivalent of baseball's world series -- the presidency of the United States.
In the race for the democratic nomination, it is southerner John Edwards, Kerry's charismatic, silver-tongued rival who has been dubbed The Natural.
The fresh-faced one-term North Carolina senator, despite having made millions as a trial lawyer, rarely misses an opportunity to mention his roots as the son of a mill worker, drawing an unstated contrast with Kerry's upbringing as the son of a diplomat schooled in New England and Switzerland.
Republicans, believing Kerry will be President George W. Bush's opponent on Nov.2 after racking up 18 wins in 20 democratic primaries and caucuses, have tried to caricature him as aloof and a chronic Waffler.
It's a perception he has had to deal with on the campaign trail.
''Be very careful, they will get you on that,'' warned a supporter at a rally in Brooklyn, New York, on Saturday night. Bureau Report