All said, a great speech. A little rushed, a bit long, and the sweating was unfortunate. But it was the best I’ve seen Kerry this campaign season. He did a good job of sharing his story and his values as well as making the case for why we should elect him to lead the country into the future.
I thought it a fitting conclusion to what I view as a preemptive convention. The Democrats took the supposed Republican ammunition (“strong leadership”, war, veterans, the flag, faith, values, optimism) and pointed it right back at them. To use a football comparison, it’s like a team who’s read all week how they won’t be able to move the ball on offense completing a long pass the first play from scrimmage to make a “take that” statement.
Three months to go and a lot can happen, but Kerry is off to a strong start.
July 2004
Over the Top!
BREAKING NEWS: John Kerry wins Democratic nomination!
I thought I recalled from prior conventions that the state delegations ordered themselves in the roll call so that the nominee’s home state provided the votes necessary to clinch the nomination.
That didn’t happen this time; Massachusetts went first, followed by North Carolina. Ohio was the magic state this time around. Guess the powers that be wanted to make a statement about the importance of the swing state.
Brilliant move; one which will undoubtedly sway thousands of Ohio undecideds this November. Ha.
Two If By Sea
Cable news has been covering Senator Kerry’s arrival by boat in Boston for the last half hour or so. Boats go pretty slow after all. He was gabbing with his Vietnam buddies along the way in an event designed for TV camera. I think the only way they could have played it up more would be to arrive by rowboat–a la Washington crossing the Delaware.
Anyway, a somewhat amusing episode of campaign stagecraft.
Kerry better get working on his speech once this show ends. The convention has gone fairly well thus far, but it he’s the clean-up batter and must deliver a game-winning hit.
Lack of Civility
“Now shove it.”
Teresa Heinz Kerry
To newspaper reporter
25 July 2004
“Go f— yourself.”
Vice President Dick Cheney
To Senator Patrick Leahy (on Senate floor)
22 June 2004
Neither of these statements demonstrate civility. Funny how many people, including “journalists” are now playing up the former without mentioning the latter.
Off and Running
No need to be in Boston; C-Span has the filter-free action.
The themes of the afternoon appear to be “the future” (what Kerry’s all about) and “diversity” (what the different-looking speakers are all about).
Chairman Terry McAuliffe attempted some sort of Spanish introduction for Governor Bill Richardson. I hope no Hispanics were watching. That butchering alone could cost the State of Florida.
Mein Blog
OxBlog’s David Adesnik notes this this Sioux Falls Argus Leader editorial:
Those perched on the political fringes have found a home on the Internet. True believers of one stripe or another, no longer content to merely bore spouses and neighbors with their nutty opinions, can now spew forth on their own blogs, thereby playing a pivotal role in creating the polarized climate that dominates debate on nearly every national issue. There are blogs devoted to the right, blogs devoted to the left, blogs devoted to exposing the vast and devious media conspiracy, blogs defending and attacking, well, almost anything that mirrors one individual’s view of the world.
If Hitler were alive today, he’d have his own blog.
The occasion for this wit? The launching of the newspaper’s own blog, of course. Go figure.
Meanwhile, the folks at MSNBC have set up Hardblogger, the “mother of all weblogs.”
To each their own, but don’t many of these “big media” folks already have sufficient platform to reach the masses? Seems like some of this corporate-funded blogging is largely a marketing endeavor.