Kerry aides say they are confident they can do better this year.

Kerry aides pointed to other barometers of message penetration.

A Kerry aide who had attended the meeting had a different recollection.

Kerry aides said that 15,000 people ad contributed, and that more than $450,000 had come from the Internet.

Moreover, the Kerry aides said, the Bush administration did send troops to Iraq without proper equipment.

In Boston, Kerry aides tried to work television demands into their schedule.

Several Democrats and Kerry aides said some of his missteps were a result of exhaustion.

Kerry aides countered that an average of polls over the past week still showed the race in a dead heat.

The advertisement, the group's fifth, was quickly dismissed by Kerry aides.

Kerry aides said the campaign hoped to bring in half its money at large fund-raising events through April.