2004 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

• Edwards: 'We choose hope over despair' • Pollster tunes in to local voices • Sharpton, Kucinich join fold • Edwards' wife describes his rise • Kerry won't neglect Ohio • Kerry needs to prove he can lead the nation • McConnell calls attacks 'vile' • Prime-time speakers tonight • Ky. Takes Back Seat To Ohio • 'Kerry parties' number 20 here • Gannett News Service convention coverage • Enquirer's election section

The front-row seats assigned to Ohio delegates at the Democratic National Convention are so good that delegate Marilyn Hyland said she could see "Jimmy Carter's bright blue eyes.

"You can practically shake hands with the speakers. The seats are fantastic! This is like the Christmas of politics," said Hyland, of Clifton.

Kentucky's seats? Go to the back of the convention floor, and walk up 15 rows.

The two delegations are about as far apart as, well, Cincinnati and Covington.

"Sure, I'd like to be in the front row," said Kentucky delegate Loraine Lowe, 69, a housewife from Pikeville, Ky.

But she said she understands that Kentucky doesn't have the electoral significance of Ohio, and really, the seats are perfectly fine.

"They give you a good view, being up here," she said.

"I think these are better seats," insisted her friend, 66-year-old Toni Canterbury of South Williamson, Ky. "You can see more."

The 183 members of the Ohio delegation are staying at the Sheraton, one of the hubs of convention activity and the same hotel housing top Democratic Party officials. The 65-person Kentucky delegation got put around the corner in a perfectly nice hotel, but not one of the central convention gathering spots.

The breakfast-guest breakdown also favors Ohio. The delegation has heard from former Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia - who will nominate Sen. John Kerry tonight - and Democratic Party Chairman Terry McAuliffe. Actor Richard Dreyfuss stopped by, too. Kentucky got the House Democratic Whip - Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland - and New Jersey's secretary of state.

But things could be worse for the delegates - they could be from Indiana, a state that has voted Republican for president 13 of the last 14 elections.

The Indiana delegation has made do with such fellow Hoosiers as state House Speaker Pat Bauer, former Indiana Rep. Tim Roemer and Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh as breakfast speakers.

But in another duel for prominence, this one between Ohio and Florida, Florida may have won: Its delegates got actor Ben Affleck.

Carl Weiser