"It's a problem," he said in an interview aboard his campaign bus.

"What you need to do, obviously, is have an attorney general who inspires the confidence of all communities in America that the constitution will be upheld."

"I'm a former law enforcement officer," he said, referring to his six-year stint as a local prosecutor in Massachusetts. "I know how to talk to the community and bring people into the effort to fight crime."

Kerry, who supported President Clinton's effort to pay for 100,000 community police officers, said community-oriented policing holds the key to fighting crime.

• • • 

Regarding health care, Kerry spoke of a close friend who works as a cardiologist in Cincinnati.

He was referring to Dr. John Schneider at the Ohio Heart Health Center, the husband of Kerry law school chum Ronna Gref Schneider, a law professor at the University of Cincinnati.

• • • 

Will Ohioans see former President Clinton stumping for Kerry in the final weeks? Mike McCurry, a Clinton spokesman who's now a senior aide to Kerry, said it's possible.

"If you ask him, 'Do you want to get out there?' he says yes. But if you ask the senator (former first lady Hillary), she says it depends on what the doctor says. I have a sneaking suspicion she'll win that argument."

But if Clinton does campaign, he'll go wherever he's needed most. (Translation: Cleveland.)

E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com