DES MOINES — Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., formally announced his bid for presidency in Des Moines Tuesday at the Temple for the Performing Arts, 1011 Locust St., the second stop on his Presidential Announcement Tour.

His energetic campaign kick-off attempted to breathe new life into his presidential run and prove to Democrats he was their best hope for the White House.

Kerry will have to fight an uphill battle to oust Howard Dean, who, as of July, had taken a strong lead in Iowa opinion polls. His supporters weren’t worried about the current polls, however.

“When people hear his ideas and how practical he is, they’ll be immediately drawn to him,” said former Iowa State Rep. Andra Atteberry, D-Manchester. “Other candidates aren’t as realistic as Kerry — they’re pie in the sky.”

Kerry took the stage amid thunderous applause, as Bruce Springsteen’s “Land of Hopes and Dreams” played in the background. He launched into his speech, boasting his Vietnam combat record and foreign policy experience with 19 years spent on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Kerry specifically mentioned his role in the war with Iraq.

“I will never forget that even a nation as powerful as the United States needs to make some friends in this world,” he said. “I voted to threaten the use of force to make Saddam Hussein comply with the resolutions of the United Nations. I believe that was right, but it was wrong to rush to war without building a true international coalition — and with no plan to win peace.”

The crowd once again broke out in thunderous applause. Even Kerry’s sign language translator quickly finished her translation to join in the applause.

As Kerry outlined each point of his policy, he contrasted himself with President Bush. His next point of attack was Bush’s handling of environmental issues.

“George Bush seeks to undo the progress of 30 years under presidents of both parties,” Kerry said. “In a Kerry administration, we will recommit America to save our environment. We will disprove the lie that protecting the environment can only come at the expense of jobs.”

One of the key points of Kerry’s speech was his promise for economic reform. He promised that, if elected, he would get back the three million jobs “lost under George Bush” in his first 500 days as president and cut the budget deficit in half in his first four years.

Kerry then read Bush’s economic accomplishments, amid loud booing from the crowd: lavish tax breaks for the rich and multibillion dollar contracts offered to Dick Cheney’s old oil company.

He then outlined his national health care plan, which he unveiled in Iowa last spring.

“We will be a lesser nation if we continue to be the only advanced society that does not secure access to health care for all our people,” he said. “Early this year, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I was cured because I was lucky to have some of the best medical care in the world, but millions of Americans are not so lucky.”

As he spoke, several members of the audience with purple shirts that read “I’m a health care voter,” applauded enthusiastically.

They were members of “Iowa for Health Care,” an organization focused on uniting people for the cause of universal health care. Although they didn’t officially endorse Kerry, they approved of his plan.

“Currently six of the nine Democratic candidates have plans for universal health care, and we were pleased with Kerry’s plan,” said Stephanie Mueller, communications director for Iowa for Health Care.

Before he spoke, Kerry was preceded by Rep. Atteberry. She said Kerry’s health care plan has been called the “best out there.”

“He can pay for his plan by getting rid of the Bush tax cut for the wealthy and Congress will pass it because it’s not pie in the sky,” she said, yelling at the top of her lungs.

Kerry’s announcement for his run for president drew a handful of college students. Megan Heneke, sophomore in political science from the University of Iowa, said Kerry was the most electable of all the nine Democratic presidential candidates.

“He is the only candidate that strongly supports pro-choice and he has the strongest foreign policy record,” she said. “Kerry is the only candidate strong enough to take on George Bush on the issue of national security.”

Hannah Schoenthal-Muse, president of the ISU Democrats, also approved of Kerry’s speech, although she didn’t officially endorse him.

“His environmental policies are pristine and his health care plan is achievable, as opposed to the other candidates’ plans, which are too idealistic,” she said.