BOSTON - When he was seeking re-election in 2002, U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry faced no Republican opposition and was preparing a run for president.

This year, Kerry is getting back to his political roots, barnstorming the state and touting his record during four terms in the Senate.

In September, he crushed his first primary opponent in 24 years, and now polls show that he will easily defeat his first Republican opponent in 12 years.

During an interview at a Scollay Square restaurant near his home in exclusive Louisburg Square on Beacon Hill, Kerry ticked off a long list of accomplishments for Western Massachusetts, veterans and small businesses.

"I've been working hard to bring the bacon home," he said.

On Nov. 4, Kerry faces security expert Jeffrey K. Beatty, a Harwich Republican, and Robert J. Underwood, a Libertarian from Springfield.

Kerry cited his work in helping secure $38 million in federal aid to revitalize Union Station in Springfield, federal grants for the Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute in Springfield and Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, and money for installing a comprehensive electronic message system along Interstate 91.

Kerry acknowledged that he labors under a perception that he has been absent from Western Massachusetts for long periods over the years.

He said the perception is wrong, and probably partly stems from his dramatic run for the presidency in 2004 when he narrowly lost to President Bush.

Kerry said he has loved visiting communities in the region during his re-election bid.

"I'm always out in Western Massachusetts," he said. "I'm frequently out there."

In some events during the past year, he took a walking tour of Northampton, attended the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, visited the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, met with the mayors of Chicopee, Northampton and Springfield, gave a keynote speech at American International College, and rubbed elbows with other politicians at an annual political clambake in Agawam.

Kerry said he is especially proud of laws he authored to help former servicemen and women, including a measure to give veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan a year to catch up with overdue payments on mortgages, up from 90 days, and a freeze on their interest rates.

He also championed a law that authorized a 3.5-percent pay raise for troops when the White House initially wanted only 3 percent.

"I've kept my faith with my fellow veterans," said Kerry, a Navy lieutenant in the Vietnam War who won the Silver Star, three Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for service in river patrols.

Both of his foes have criticized him for his 2002 vote to authorize the president to use force in Iraq.

Republican opponent Beatty is a former Army major who advocated defeat of a $700 billion financial relief law approved in Washington this fall.

Kerry voted for the law, saying it was flawed but necessary to free credit for small businesses and rescue the financial system.

Beatty said the law is a Band-Aid for the economic crisis and too loaded with pet projects for Congress. Beatty said the bill will cost $7,000 per household, which he said is unacceptable.

"The bill should work for people, not for special interests," said Beatty, who won a Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman Badge for his service in the 1983 Grenada invasion.

He said he would attempt to amend the law if elected.

Beatty is also attacking Kerry during the campaign, hitting at him for accepting $110,000 worth of contributions during the past decade from the failed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Beatty said voters are craving change in Washington this year.

"That change includes replacing John Kerry," he said.

Underwood, the Libertarian candidate, supports some positions out of the mainstream, such as eliminating gun and drug laws.

"I'm against the war on drugs," he said. "It has turned into a boondoggle."

Underwood said his major issue is job creation. He said he would work to abolish the North American Free Trade Agreement, a law passed in 1993 that boosts trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Kerry, on the other hand, voted for the law.

Underwood said he also does not like free trade agreements with Asia. He called the pacts "slave-wage agreements" that are causing high unemployment in Springfield and elsewhere.

"In general, I would not allow manufacturing to be moved abroad," added Underwood, who lives in the Hungry Hill section of Springfield. "The jobs are being shipped to Asia. The Democratic incumbent has been a key player in shipping those jobs to Asia."