This is a very important story, for what it
doesn't say:
"Dems' Kerry Endorsed By 28 Miss. Lawmakers"
http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0403/03/ma04.html
Why so important? Because Democrats with long memories know that Southern elected Democrats have been running away from non-Southern Democratic presidential nominees in every election since 1960. And since 1972, Republicans have made a campaign specialty out of putting on the defensive southern Democratic candidates for other offices, federal or state, by pushing them to say whether or not they supported the nominee (McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis, to some degree even Gore).
The fact that a very progressive Massachusetts Senator/nominee has a large number of Mississippi Democratic legislators coming out for him as a positive thing turns the whole equation around. Don't underestimate the power of Kerry's Vietnam service credentials -- and his validation by his "band of brothers" -- as the ticket to political acceptability in the South.
(BTW, Arthur Conan Doyle's "dog that didn't bark" was quiet because he recognized the person who entered the house. Just like Kerry's military service lets Southern Dems "recognize" and accept him.)