COLUMBIA, S.C. - Richland County Council Chairwoman Bernice G. Scott promises she'll need a new pair of shoes after months of knocking on doors telling residents about Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

Even though it's been more than three months since Kerry's last visit, Scott says elected officials like her are the ones who will get voters to the polls for the state's first-in-the-South primary Feb. 3.

Those "who believe in him have got to go out and carry his message," Scott said Thursday night among more than 80 people gathered to open Kerry's state campaign headquarters.

Kerry, one of nine White House hopefuls, missed the opening of his headquarters here and made a phone call to the crowd instead.

The Massachusetts senator peppered those in the crowd with gratitude, but said the hard work was just beginning.

"I'm really excited by everybody's presence there," he said. "We need to get to work. Campaigns are won ... by the hard work of talking to neighbors, getting on the phones, getting out the message and building a really strong national effort."

"I can guarantee that I'm going to come out of Iowa and out of New Hampshire down to South Carolina in a way that's going to help translate your hard work into a victory there," he said.

Kerry plans to officially announce his candidacy after Labor Day with a two-day campaign swing starting in Charleston.

On Sept. 2, Kerry's appearance at Patriots Point will focus on his record as a decorated Navy veteran who served in the Vietnam War. Kerry will take the same message to Iowa, which holds the nation's first Democratic caucuses.

On Sept. 3, Kerry will shift his focus to jobs and the economy in a swing through New Hampshire, which has its primary a week before South Carolina.

"With the energy that will come in the beginning of September, I think that we can really kick in to a higher gear and break through so people begin to get some of the sense of what this is about," said Kerry told the crowd gathered around the phone.

Former judge Alex Sanders, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate last year, revved up the crowd of supporters before Kerry called.

"John Kerry is the only candidate who has the stature and experience and character to defeat President Bush," Sanders said. "I could not be more enthusiastic about his candidacy."