PORTLAND (AP) – Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, alternating between conversational comments and more rousing rhetoric, was patched in by phone to the Democratic State Convention on Sunday and drew standing ovations from delegates backing his bid for president.

Delivering much of a standard stump speech, the all-but-nominated White House hopeful pledged to reverse Bush administration policies on jobs, education, health care and the environment but prompted the most applause with his denunciation of American foreign policy and the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

“Working with other nations is not a sign of weakness,” Kerry told party activists assembled for a third and closing day of their biennial state gathering. “It’s a sign of strength.”

Kerry, who won Maine’s Democratic caucuses in February, listed Maine as one of the so-called battleground states he hopes to carry in November.

Four years ago, Democrat Al Gore bested candidate George W. Bush by 49 percent to 44 percent in Maine, with Ralph Nader taking nearly 7 percent of the vote.

In this weekend’s voting by convention delegates, 24 pledged national delegate positions were apportioned among the top three Maine caucus finishers.

Kerry claimed 11 slots and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean was awarded seven. U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, who sent the Portland gathering into spiraling outbursts of enthusiasm when he took the stage Saturday, came away with six national delegates.

Maine will also send 11 unpledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Boston in late July.

Expressing gratitude for the support of Maine Democrats and pride in the party’s principles, Kerry said Sunday that Americans in the past have been drawn to Democratic occupants of the White House such as Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy because of their role as problem-solvers and suggested that this year voters want the same.

The choice of a president is “not about party and partisan politics,” said Kerry.

Stretched over three days marked by wide-ranging discussions of issues, philosophies, rules and other procedural matters, the convention wound down in mid-afternoon Sunday with a number of platform provisions left hanging.

Debate was closed when a check initiated from the convention floor showed that the number of delegates still in their seats had dwindled to fewer than 600, which was the rough threshold for a quorum.

One result was to frustrate an effort by pro-Israel forces to rewrite a platform plank on Palestinian rights and Israeli security that had sparked controversy.

Objections centered on the characterization of “the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem” and a sentence declaring that “until Palestinians’ dignity and independence are restored and their economy repaired we urge Israel, the United States and the UN to provide living necessities for Palestinians.”

Kerry’s remarks Sunday echoed in part advice given to convention delegates on Saturday by keynote speaker Ann Lewis of the Women’s Vote Center of the Democratic National Committee, who urged party activists to “leave this convention as personal messengers of the Democratic Party.”

In the midst of a full weekend of Bush-bashing, Lewis added that to be successful Democrats must “give people a reason to believe.”

If Democrats dwell only on the negative, she warned, “we lose the opportunity to tell people what can be done right.”

AP-ES-05-23-04 1716EDT