Republicans hone Kerry-the-liberal rhetoric By WALTER R. MEARS AP Special Correspondent BOSTON - Republicans are polishing their anti-John Kerry themes for their own national convention one month from now. As Kerry accepted the presidential nomination, the Republican message was that behind any of his rhetoric, the senator is an old-fashioned Massachusetts liberal. It worked against the last Massachusetts nominee, Michael Dukakis, in 1988. So along with their flip-flop accusations, the Republicans are depicting Kerry as just another liberal, with a suspect record on national security no matter what he says now. He's trying to shape a different image, of course. For anyone who had forgotten that he is a decorated Navy veteran of the Vietnam War, the Democratic nominee began his acceptance speech to the Democratic National Convention on Thursday with a military salute: "I'm John Kerry and I'm reporting for duty." The reminders of his service were woven into his televised speech _ his introduction to the nation as the formally nominated alternative to President Bush. "I defended this country as a young man, and I will defend it as president," he said. Kerry talked about enacting the social programs Democrats want enacted, but he also promised to cut the federal deficit in half within four years and he promised "pay-as-you-go" government. It was an attempt to blend the health care, job creation and other domestic programs dear to liberals with centrist discipline on the budget and pledges of a strengthened military and a "smarter, more effective war on terror." Republicans, obviously, weren't buying it. "When it comes to choosing a president, results matter," Bush said in the text of a new campaign speech, suggesting that Kerry hasn't delivered results in 20 years as a senator. Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who will have a featured role at the GOP convention, was in Boston on Thursday, saying Kerry's record proves he's way left but he's trying to run away from it. "That's fine if that's what you believe, but then stand up for it," Giuliani said at the GOP rebuttal outpost, close by the Democrats' convention hall. Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia, the Republicans' favorite Democrat, who is addressing the GOP convention, too, said Kerry is trying to work magic to get rid of the liberal image. "We're watching him try to do an extreme makeover right before our eyes," Miller said. Gov. Haley Barbour chimed in from Mississippi: "I never thought I'd be telling you Teddy Kennedy is the more conservative senator from Massachusetts." The Massachusetts liberal tag is one Kerry is trying to avoid, and the Republicans are determined not to let him. The Democrats see the risk to their ticket. "One of Bush's strengths is the fact that he's got very hard-core, loyal supporters on the right who are energized as well," Gov. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, a Democratic delegate, said. A week from the end of his losing campaign against the first President Bush in 1988, Dukakis, then governor of Massachusetts, accepted the "L" word he had tried for weeks to shun. "I'm a liberal in the tradition of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and John Kennedy," Dukakis said. "Miracle of miracles," the older Bush sneered. His campaign manager said it was the final flip-flop by Dukakis, who had argued that labels like "liberal" were meaningless and that actions like balancing budgets showed his conservative instincts as well. No go. His embrace of the "L" word was scorned by his opponents as a political deathbed confession. Dukakis is now a political science professor at Northeastern University in Boston. His role at the hometown convention was low profile _ the Kerry campaign wanted no reminders of the "Massachusetts liberal" problem. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE _ Walter R. Mears, a retired Associated Press special correspondent, has reported from national political conventions since 1964.