I did not listen to John Kerry's speech last night. Apparently, I didn't need to. From what I have heard so far, it was okay, he read fast to get off by 11pm, and there wasn't anything new.
I thought this was supposed to be an important speech that would give Kerry a big bounce. So much for expectations from the Kerry campaign.
Here are some interesting items . . .
+Reaction to Kerry speech
Kerry's Speech Disappoints Liberal Newspapers -- 07/30/2004
BostonHerald.com - Herald Columnists: Here�s what he really said
+America's Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, told a press conference that he has not seen Michael moor's propaganda film and "I really don't need Michael Moore to tell me about September 11th."
Full story from Cybercast News service-->Giuliani Doesn't Need Moore to Tell Him About 9/11 -- 07/29/2004
+It appears that there is some confusion on the part of the Kerry campaign, Democrats in general, and NASA.
Earlier this week the Kerry campaign said that the release of pictures of the candidate in a protective suit were "dirty tricks" by NASA.
It now turns out that this was not true and the campaign asked NASA to "expedite" release of the photos for journalists.
Full story from WorldNetDaily-->WorldNetDaily: NASA: Kerry camp asked for 'bunny' photos
+Today's items from the Kerry Spot on National Review Online . . .
READER REACTION
Obviously, many Kerry Spot readers are on the right side of the spectrum, but not all. A selection of their take:
Leta: “Images & stagecraft matter, and if Kerry was trying to reassure the viewers of middle America that he would be a strong commander-in-chief, he should not have let Al Sharpton, Dennis Kucinich and Sheila Jackson-Lee occupy the camera space behind him on stage. Not real comforting.”
Josh: “Kerry hardly said a word about his 20 years in the Senate. The Republicans should be pounding on the theme that he's running away from his record.”
Smart Democratic source: Too much Vietnam. He projected a nice aura. I agree that the delivery is better than expected, but it’s rushed. The entrance was good. I think all the environmental talk was aimed at the Nader voters. Also looks like they’ve decided Cheney and his issues are the area they want to attack.
By the way, a number of readers that shocked me have written in to say, 'good job.' You have no idea how much those notes just make a guy's day, and make the disgusting bathrooms and the far-off hotel and getting magnetic-wanded 20 times a day worthwhile. Readers, thank you for reading.
THAT REFERENCE TO THE 9/11 COMMISSION
Kerry: "The 9-11 Commission has given us a path to follow, endorsed by Democrats, Republicans, and the 9-11 families. As president, I will not evade or equivocate; I will immediately implement the recommendations of that commission."
Bush team response: "President Bush is preparing executive orders and a speech detailing his initial plans for revamping the nation's intelligence services, administration officials said Wednesday. He is likely to begin his announcements within days, the officials said." (Mike Allen And Dan Eggen, "Bush May Move Soon On 9/11 Report," The Washington Post, 7/29/04)
KERRY WRAPUP
Overall, delivery was much, much stronger than I expected.
And yet, it relied a lot more than I ever imagined on some of the more hackneyed and worn-out claims of the Bush haters. The constant invocation of his Vietnam service is meant to contrast with Bush, whose Air National Guard service is some sort of revelatory character flaw. Huge swaths of this speech were about reclaiming patriotism for the Democratic party. Reclaiming the flag for the Democratic party. the tired claim that Bush chose to ignore our allies, as if Russia, France and Germany were ever going to invade one of their best customers.
This was a speech that probably set the MoveOn.org crowd on fire, and was probably pure catnip to the Air America listeners, the Michael Moore fans, the Bill Mahers, the Al Frankens, the Maureen Dowds. He spent a lot of time on how he wouldn’t mislead us into war - not much on how he would handle Iraq from here on out.
This speech had vision - the vision was that George W. Bush has been wrong about everything since he took office.
The delegates loved it. I’m sure this speech will jazz the base. But there wasn’t enough vision for how to manage a post 9/11 world, and way too much ‘I won’t do what Bush did.’ I know some political adviser probably told him he had to contrast himself with Bush, but I don’t think he did much to move beyond the identity he had before this speech: The Not Bush Candidate.
SECOND HALF THOUGHTS
Kerry: "Franklin Roosevelt never could have said: 'Go to John Kerry.com.'"
These are some of the lamest jokes in a long time.
Another observation: I’m sure that Shrum and the communications team encouraged Kerry to take on his critics head on, but a lot of this seems very defensive on part of the Democrats: We support the troops. We like the flag. We are patriotic, too. We aren't going to raise taxes. Don't believe that stuff you heard, take our word for it.
Best line: "I don’t see us as red states or blue states, I see us as red, white and blue."
“I don’t wear my religion on my sleeve.” And with that, he concedes 90 percent of the red states. He needed to show America he was comfortable with religion, and could talk about the topic the way Clinton did.
More -->The Kerry Spot on National Review Online
More later
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