Convention Thoughts
Like many others, I was a bit disappointed that the prime-time speakers on the first two nights did not rip into John McCain with enough gusto. I can excuse Michelle Obama, her job was to really warm America up to her and her husband. And while Hillary did an okay job of saying McCain was more of the same, she didn't lay into him on specific issues like choice. That's not to say she didn't perform a great speech -- the references to Harriet Tubman were incredibly inspiring.
But I've been hoping for some real body blows. John McCain is like a slow softball coming over the plate -- it's not hard to hit a grand slam on this guy. Well last night, we saw some very good hits. Joe Biden ripped McCain apart on Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran. He made the strong case that McCain is wrong, Obama is right. I wish he'd thrown in his "seven kitchen tables" comment from last weekend, but it was a solid speech by a great guy. The intro by his son Beau was a certified tear-jerker.
Bill Clinton's speech was wonderfully delivered, and it was nice to see him finally put his hurt feelings aside and give Obama a full-throated endorsement. But I don't think he mentioned John McCain's name once, instead focusing on the broader failures of the Republicans over the last eight years.
But if you want to see the best speech of the convention (so far), check out this speech by John Kerry. Most of the networks didn't cover it, but they should have. It was the best ass-kicking McCain has taken so far in this campaign.
If you haven't seen it, watch it:
Some folks have asked, "where was this John Kerry in 2004?". But their memories must be bad, because this is the same guy we nominated back then. His 2004 acceptance speech was filled with red meat, bashing Bush and the failed Republicans. It was the highlight of that convention. Kerry didn't get much of a bump out of it, he was already near his ceiling at the time, but it was outstanding. He also demonstrated this tenacity during his debates with Bush. It's easy to retroactively consider someone an abysmal failure because he lost an election, but in reality Kerry is a great Democrat and a strong, principled American.
But I've been hoping for some real body blows. John McCain is like a slow softball coming over the plate -- it's not hard to hit a grand slam on this guy. Well last night, we saw some very good hits. Joe Biden ripped McCain apart on Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran. He made the strong case that McCain is wrong, Obama is right. I wish he'd thrown in his "seven kitchen tables" comment from last weekend, but it was a solid speech by a great guy. The intro by his son Beau was a certified tear-jerker.
Bill Clinton's speech was wonderfully delivered, and it was nice to see him finally put his hurt feelings aside and give Obama a full-throated endorsement. But I don't think he mentioned John McCain's name once, instead focusing on the broader failures of the Republicans over the last eight years.
But if you want to see the best speech of the convention (so far), check out this speech by John Kerry. Most of the networks didn't cover it, but they should have. It was the best ass-kicking McCain has taken so far in this campaign.
If you haven't seen it, watch it:
Some folks have asked, "where was this John Kerry in 2004?". But their memories must be bad, because this is the same guy we nominated back then. His 2004 acceptance speech was filled with red meat, bashing Bush and the failed Republicans. It was the highlight of that convention. Kerry didn't get much of a bump out of it, he was already near his ceiling at the time, but it was outstanding. He also demonstrated this tenacity during his debates with Bush. It's easy to retroactively consider someone an abysmal failure because he lost an election, but in reality Kerry is a great Democrat and a strong, principled American.
posted by Existenz | 8:33 PM
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