Bush took advantage of both problems and then used the Republican convention in New York last week to hammer Kerry as unreliable on national defense and to present himself as the candidate best able to keep the country safe against terrorism.
The first two polls taken after Bush's convention, by Time and Newsweek, showed an immediate boost, with Kerry trailing by 11 percentage points in both -- the largest deficit either candidate has suffered in the campaign. Kerry campaign officials said their internal polls also put Bush in the lead, but by a narrower margin.
Some of Bush's gains likely will recede quickly, given the normal rhythms of presidential campaigns, but Kerry's performance in August unnerved many Democrats outside the campaign, who groused privately and sometimes publicly that the candidate needed to make a significant mid-course correction to counter Bush's gains.
"This is a critical decision because John Sasso has enormous credibility, and all of a sudden the center of power moves from the ground to the plane, where decisions can be made quickly," said Tony Coelho, who managed Gore's 2000 campaign for a time. "It tells me we have an independent thinker with Kerry who can get things done."
"We need someone on the plane who has a relationship with him and is an adult," said a senior campaign official, who asked for anonymity to talk more freely about strategy. "You need heavier fire power here. There is no room for error in days to come, and this takes the pressure off of headquarters."
Communications director Stephanie Cutter said Mary Beth Cahill, who was brought in last fall at a time when Kerry's candidacy was floundering, would remain in overall control of the campaign, with Sasso adding a heavyweight voice from the campaign trail. "This is the home stretch, and John Kerry wants more of the best and brightest," Cutter said.
Whouley, who like Sasso has a long relationship with Kerry, has broad experience in state-by-state targeting, Electoral College strategy and voter mobilization. Sasso was a top adviser to then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, who ran for president in 1988.
In a previously reported move, Howard Wolfson, a former top aide to Hillary Rodham Clinton and former executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, will join the DNC as senior adviser for communications.
On the Sunday talk shows, Kerry aides and other Democrats sought to play down Bush's post-convention bounce. "We always knew that August was going to be the toughest month for us," Cahill said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "But from here on in, we're in the general election."
Balz reported from Washington.
