Mr. Kerry and former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont came to this region last year, before the campaigning really got under way.

Mr. Kerry, who essentially secured the nomination in early March and was down to only a few million dollars in the bank, came under immediate, withering attack.

Finally comes Mr. Kerry, denouncing the president.

Mr. Foxman said that Mr. Kerry "came very close to where the president is" on several fundamental positions.

Mr. Kerry almost came to West Hartford in July to kick off his campaign tour after accepting his nomination, but then canceled.

Mr. Kerry came under widespread criticism this year from black writers, officials and strategists who complained that his campaign was not reaching out enough to blacks.

Mr. Kerry comes by his complexities naturally.

But other Republican and campaign officials said they expected Mr. Kerry to come back strongly after his vacation ends next week.

Many of the nearly 100 people who gathered before a large-screen television at a campus student center said they thought that Mr. Kerry came across more effectively.

Mr. Kerry came here by hard necessity, hoping for a miracle.