Thursday, August 28, 2008
John Kerry? Is that you? (11:22 am)
Gotta say - I greatly enjoyed John Kerry’s speech last night. It was a complete transformation from ‘04. Here was an obviously intelligent man who was angry, sick of it all, and determined not to let Republicans win. He spoke with passion and conviction and rarely stuttered. Nor did he seem afraid of how his delivery would be “interpreted.”
So, that makes three formerly wooden politicians - Hillary, Kerry, and Gore - who, unfettered by the shackles of the Democratic campaign strategists around them, unfettered by the self-consciousness that so accursed their campaigns, found their convictions and voices and can now speak from their hearts. And they grabbed our attention with their freshness and honesty. Such a shame.
UPDATE: I’ve been reading that most networks cut away from Kerry’s speech to their vacuous analyst jabberjaws sitting around various tables discussing nothing. (This was not the case with my local PBS affiliate where the DNC’s been shown all week). Cutting away from a speech like this is downright irresponsible, risible, and a major shame. The total viewership should have been watching. He talks about ending torture, defending the constitution, and tears into John McCain for his battle cry - “Next stop - Baghdad!” - only a short time after 9/11. It rocks. Check it out.
UPDATE II: Perhaps the fact that Obama tapped John Kerry to speak at the convention - knowing he would say what he did - proves Obama does know how to fight, but that he is more adept, savvy, and artfulabout it than we know. Ever since the race speech he gave in Philadelphia I’ve contended that he is always 2 of 3 steps ahead of the analysts, pundits, and public. Perhaps what’s most important is that he surrounds himself with people who know how to fight and he lets them loose. I never would have thought of John Kerry as one of those people until last night…
I couldn’t agree more. To my mind, this was the most powerful speech of the entire convention, and most people - even among those who are actually interested and followed the convention - never got a chance to see or hear it. It’s a speech that every American needs to hear. Whoever is good at these things, should work at sending this around the internet in a viral fashion and getting a real buzz going about it.
My only complaint is that Kerry felt the same idiotic and self-defeating compunction as pretty much everybody else who spoke on behalf of Obama to preface his scathing remarks about McCain with deferential and respectful qualifiers. Enough of that nonsense already. It undercuts and weakens the message, and gives him more credit than he’s due. If McCain didn’t use his POW status so cynically himself, perhaps it wouldn’t rankle so much, but he does, so no need to help him pile it on.
posted by Andy Schreiber on 8-29-08 at 3:00 AM