Pleasant Hill, Iowa ? Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, collecting endorsements for his Democratic presidential campaign from leaders of public safety unions, spelled out a plan to give local officials broader powers and more money for dealing with threats to domestic security.

Kerry is proposing relaxed requirements for security clearances in times of threat to give local officials greater access to information. He also wants to strengthen emergency telephone systems to handle wireless equipment and create networks that allow smaller local communities to work together against a threat.

In a meeting Saturday in suburban Des Moines, Kerry collected the endorsement of the heads of the Des Moines firefighters and police unions, both traditionally active in politics in the largest city of the state where this month’s party caucuses open the nation’s election season.

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Barrington, N.H. — Flipping pancakes at a VFW post and sipping root beer at a country store, Democratic presidential hopeful Wesley Clark said he offered Americans “a higher standard of leadership.”

“To me, patriotism is not dressing up in a flight suit and prancing around on the deck of an aircraft carrier,” Clark said, referring to President Bush’s announcement in May aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln that major combat had ended in Iraq.

Clark, a retired Army general, pledged to take care of veterans, rebuild relations with Europe and enforce laws to protect the environment.

He accused Republicans of using the phrase “family values” to divide people.

“You can’t take care of your family if you don’t have a job. You can’t take care of your family if you don’t have health insurance. … You can’t take care of a family if you can’t get your kids an education so they can have their own family,” he said.

At a Rochester VFW pancake breakfast, Clark said the Bush administration was overusing the military.