The "cheerleaders" have done their work, hundreds of Bush supporters are once again chanting, "Four more years" at the top of their voices. A brooding heat hangs oppressively over the Kirkwood Community College Recreation Center. A men's choir soulfully sings America, the Beautiful, the hymn of patriots of whom there is no shortage here in Cedar Rapids, a medium-large city in the farm state of Iowa. And then suddenly he is standing among them in a blue shirt, sleeves rolled up, no jacket. The hall shakes with cheers, the "America Is Safer, Stronger, Better" banners quiver. The decorative twins, Jenna and Barbara, who are accompanying their father, take their seats on the stage.

Surprisingly George W. Bush does not encourage the orgy of cheering. He wants to get started with his speech, in which, he promises, "my opponent" will scarcely be mentioned "because I've got too much good to talk about." That includes the war against terrorism, first in Afghanistan and then in Iraq. And also the economic recovery, for which the President of course claims credit.

And a little joke in which Bush refers to John Kerry's alleged opportunism: In case you haven't been able to agree with him on something today, then he must have had a bad day. - And then the event is over.

The disparaged Kerry has just ended his "Front Porch Tour." In Michigan and Wisconsin he campaigned very informally. He turned up on the terrace of a private house - usually several dozen people get together at these gatherings - to talk with the home owners and their neighbors about the way things are going - in an America as easily understandable and familiar as it used to be in the old days. More so than he would before a large audience, the Democratic candidate appears here as what he isn't yet but has wanted to be all his life: a president who will bring peace to America by staying calm and collected.

In the middle of this summer the campaign has entered a new phase. Bush as well as Kerry are courting the 16 swing states which will presumably decide the election - from Ohio across the Midwest to Florida, Nevada, and New Mexico. They prefer small gatherings and offer them restrained upbeat messages. They talk especially about the future, less about the past. In these carefully selected circles they try out the slogans that will inundate the whole country in the fall.

One pleasant aspect of this new phase of the campaign is that there's been a break in the mudslinging. The Republican campaign machine has spent more than 100 million dollars to portray Kerry as an elitist, undependable leftist who should not be trusted with leading the country. The Kerry campaign has spent about 80 million dollars to promote its candidate as a tried and tested Vietnam veteran and the mature statesman America needs after four years of Bush.

Never before have rivals in an election campaign spent so much money so early on and so ineffectively - the result has been pretty meager as the weekly opinion polls have shown.

The President's ratings have has been slipping for months. His loss in popularity - currently 51 percent of all Americans think the Iraq war was a mistake - stems from the attacks and kidnappings in Baghdad and Falluja, rather than the disparaging TV spots of the Democrats.

Moreover, less than half of the Americans polled consider Bush a good president. It looks very much as if the election on November 2nd will turn out to be a plebiscite on Bush and the Iraq War.

Kerry stands in the shadow of the President. This will be an advantage for him if Bush's weakness becomes a strong point for Kerry. And that is why the challenger in recent weeks has been collecting a great deal of money and building up a network all over the country in preparation for the campaign's hot phase in the fall. Hardly ever has the Democratic Party been so well organized as it goes into the battle for America.

Naturally Bush's long shadow also has disadvantages for Kerry. In a direct comparison the candidate is only narrowly ahead of the President in the polls: 49 to 47 percent. And that isn't being changed by John Edwards, the inordinately talented populist who, as Kerry's vice presidential candidate, is now heaping the other John with high praise. One of the ironies in this immensely expensive election campaign is that the majority of Americans still don't quite know who John Kerry is and what he wants.

It's quite possible that the majority of voters are leaning toward voting George W. Bush out of office on November 2nd. But they don't seem to be sure whether they could warm up to the patrician from Massachusetts.

This week Kerry will have the chance to make a major, dynamic appearance on his home turf in Boston when he is officially named the Democratic candidate. U.S. political conventions are major events, more than just ordinary party conferences. What we have here are coronation ceremonies where Americans work off their secret fascination with monarchy, initiation rites during which well-to-do and reputable adults behave as though they had just encountered their messiah.

It is no coincidence that Kerry, at the suggestion of Steven Spielberg, has asked Hollywood director James Smoll, to put together a film about his, Kerry's, life. It is to be shown on Thursday evening, while the delegates are waiting in eager expectation for Kerry to make his appearance. After the film showing, a number of Vietnam veterans are going to sing the praises of Lieutenant Kerry. They will be followed by his two daughters, Vanessa and Alexandra, who will say good things about their father.

About 5,000 delegates will be descending on this old New England city. Fifteen thousand journalists and 15,000 prominent personalities have threatened to show up. Yet the myth surrounding conventions is greater than the actual happening. It goes back to the old days before there was television and the delegates really did chose the presidential and vice-presidential candidates. Today what matters is the effect it all has on those outside the convention hall.

Bill Clinton laid down the benchmark for that. For most Americans he too was a blank page when he stepped up to run against Bush's father in 1992. If Senator Kerry is considered wooden and awkward today, back then the Governor of Arkansas was already saddled with several affairs. The convention brought about a break-through: His lead against the incumbent President, George Bush (senior), rose dramatically to 24 points. America had formed an image of Bill Clinton and it elected him President.

Kerry will be measured against this standard. Whole armies have been busy working on his convention speech - much will depend on it. Thirty-seven of these work groups concentrated on domestic policy, twenty-seven on foreign policy. Kerry, whose strong points don't necessarily include rhetoric, has retired to his home in Washington with this bundle of suggestions. There, his major pitch about "America - Stronger at Home, Respected in the World" is to be polished. Will he be able to impress his country with "Stronger at Home, Respected in the World"?