The two biggest winners among last night's speakers were undoubtedly Bill Clinton and John Kerry. Most of the MSM coverage cut away from Kerry, which was unfortunate. Anybody who really wanted to hear the speakers watched CSpan's commercial free unedited coverage. Beyond a doubt if Kerry didn't take first prize he gave Bill a run for his money. One can only believe Senator Kerry has
improved his game immensely after listening to him brilliantly defend Barack Obama and eviscerate the criminals in the Bush administration. Even some at
Fox News thought so.
Before I talk about the big winners I want to say a few things abut Biden's speech. The phone rang right before Biden's speech got good (or
so I read this morning). I thought the speech started slow and lacked the energy of the blood and fire speeches earlier in the evening. From what I caught it seemed Joe Biden used his speech more as a personal introduction to the American people who don't know him than an all out attack on the GOP.
Other people (Chris Bowers) said he attacked very well:
Joe Biden lacked poetry, but he really, really hammered McCain. Given that is what I have hoped to hear from Democrats for so long during this campaign, it was great to hear. He seems to be every bit of the attack dog that we had hoped for when the short list became clear.
That was the part I missed. Damn you, telephone! Oh, cool, I found the transcripts.
Here's the attack part:
Should mom move in with us now that dad is gone? Fifty, 60, 70 dollars to fill up the car? Winter's coming. How we gonna pay the heating bills? Another year and no raise? Did you hear the company may be cutting our health care? Now, we owe more on the house than it's worth. How are we going to send the kids to college? How are we gonna be able to retire?
That's the America that George Bush has left us, and that's the future John McCain will give us. These are not isolated discussions among families down on their luck. These are common stories among middle-class people who worked hard and played by the rules on the promise that their tomorrows would be better than their yesterdays.
That promise is the bedrock of America. It defines who we are as a people. And now it's in jeopardy. I know it. You know it. But John McCain doesn't get it.
I think I was right and the speech served more as an introduction. But it did have a brief attack, and I am gladdened.
I very much liked his son's speech. Beau Biden was
very moving. I even got a little saline in the corner of my eye (dust or something):
The truth is, he almost wasn't a senator at all. In 1972, shortly after his improbable victory, but before he took the oath of office, my father went to Washington to look at his new office space. My mom took us to go buy a Christmas tree. On the way home, we were in an automobile accident. My mom, Neilia, and sister, Naomi, were killed. My brother, Hunter, and I were seriously injured and hospitalized for weeks. I was just short of 4 years old. One of my earliest memories was being in that hospital, Dad always at our side. We, not the Senate, were all he cared about.
He decided not to take the oath of office. He said, "Delaware can get another senator, but my boys can't get another father." However, great men like Ted Kennedy, Mike Mansfield, Hubert Humphrey — men who had been tested themselves — convinced him to serve. So he was sworn in, in the hospital, at my bedside. As a single parent, he decided to be there to put us to bed, to be there when we woke from a bad dream, to make us breakfast, so he'd travel to and from Washington, four hours a day.
The people who weren't moved by his words may not feel a connection with deep personal loss, but who knows. It loses some power in transcription. Beau's delivery in no way lacked emotional content.
Madeline Albright's speech was a work of pure genius, on paper. Her delivery was good, not great, just good. She has never been known as a fiery public speaker, so I thought she did very well. She fearlessly shredded Bush/McCain and the disastrous policies of the past eight years. She did so at a near monotone a couple of times, but the content was so powerful it was easy to find the speech inspiring. She also clearly has disdain for the wrinkled old coot:
We cannot afford four more years like the past eight years-policies that
embolden our enemies, undermine our economy, and place an unfair burden on the
heroes of our armed forces. John McCain asks that we trust Republicans to
safeguard our national security. To which we can only reply: why would we?
The Bush-Cheney decision to invade Iraq was an assault advertised as a
strike against terror that distracted from the fight against terror, and a
blow aimed at extremists that strengthened radicals. Senator McCain says that
American troops should remain in Iraq perhaps as long as they have been
stationed in Korea and Japan, as if there were no difference in history,
religion or culture between our friends in Asia and those in the Middle East.
Senator McCain claims to already know everything a president needs to
know, but the first qualification any leader needs to have is the ability to
learn. We need a president who is not wedded to 20th century thinking, who can
forge a network of power and principle that will keep America strong and safe
in the 21st century.
She's such a nice lady. I wouldn't have thought she would give it to the GOP with both barrels, buckshot packed with salt no less. I knew after her speech that I was not going to allow myself to miss anything Wednesday evening.
Bill Clinton's speech played to the listeners at gut level when it came to highlighting the epic failures of Bushco.
Text:
Our nation is in trouble on two fronts: The American Dream is under siege at home, and America's leadership in the world has been weakened.
Middle class and low-income Americans are hurting, with incomes declining; job losses, poverty and inequality rising; mortgage foreclosures and credit card debt increasing; health care coverage disappearing; and a big spike in the cost of food, utilities, and gasoline.
Our position in the world has been weakened by too much unilateralism and too little cooperation; a perilous dependence on imported oil; a refusal to lead on global warming; a growing indebtedness and a dependence on foreign lenders; a severely burdened military; a backsliding on global non-proliferation and arms control agreements; and a failure to consistently use the power of diplomacy, from the Middle East to Africa to Latin America to Central and Eastern Europe.
I also found his support of Barack Obama to be sincere, concise and very clear. Regardless of what Bill feels about Barack, he did not let it stand in the way of a major endorsement. Does this sound contrived?
Everything I learned in my eight years as president and in the work I've done since, in America and across the globe, has convinced me that Barack Obama is the man for this job.
He has a remarkable ability to inspire people, to raise our hopes and rally us to high purpose. He has the intelligence and curiosity every successful president needs. His policies on the economy, taxes, health care and energy are far superior to the Republican alternatives. He has shown a clear grasp of our foreign policy and national security challenges, and a firm commitment to repair our badly strained military. His family heritage and life experiences have given him a unique capacity to lead our increasingly diverse nation and to restore our leadership in an ever more interdependent world. The long, hard primary tested and strengthened him. And in his first presidential decision, the selection of a running mate, he hit it out of the park.
With Joe Biden's experience and wisdom, supporting Barack Obama's proven understanding, insight and good instincts, America will have the national security leadership we need.
It was possible to sense a measure of discontent on the part of our 42nd President. His words did not betray that undercurrent, however. His speech really brought back the feeling of the glorious 8 years that is Clinton's legacy. History will remember Bill Clinton very well, unlike his successor.
John Kerry blew me away as well. My favorite attack of the night:
I have known and been friends with John McCain for almost 22 years. But every day now I learn something new about candidate McCain. To those who still believe in the myth of a maverick instead of the reality of a politician, I say, let's compare Sen. McCain to candidate McCain.
Candidate McCain now supports the wartime tax cuts that Sen. McCain once denounced as immoral. Candidate McCain criticizes Sen. McCain's own climate change bill. Candidate McCain says he would now vote against the immigration bill that Sen. McCain wrote. Are you kidding? Talk about being for it before you're against it.
Let me tell you, before he ever debates Barack Obama, John McCain should finish the debate with himself. And what's more, Sen. McCain, who once railed against the smears of Karl Rove when he was the target, has morphed into candidate McCain who is using the same "Rove" tactics and the same "Rove" staff to repeat the same old politics of fear and smear. Well, not this year, not this time. The Rove-McCain tactics are old and outworn, and America will reject them in 2008.
How could so many people be stupid enough to vote for George Bush a second time? I know Kerry responded poorly to Rove's attacks in th epast. His words last night brought a strong reminder of what a great leader he is, and how great a President he would have been. The sleaze machine that attacked the decorated war hero now wants us to believe McCain is better, because he was in prison for 5.5 years... POW POW POW POW. Kerry delivered real content:
The stakes could not be higher, because we do know what a McCain administration would look like: just like the past, just like George Bush. And this country can't afford a third Bush term. Just think: John McCain voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time. Ninety percent of George Bush is just more than we can take.
Never in modern history has an administration squandered American power so recklessly. Never has strategy been so replaced by ideology. Never has extremism so crowded out common sense and fundamental American values. Never has short-term partisan politics so depleted the strength of America's bipartisan foreign policy.
George Bush, with John McCain at his side, promised to spread freedom but delivered the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time. They misread the threat and misled the country. Instead of freedom, it's Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban and dictators everywhere that are on the march. North Korea has more bombs, and Iran is defiantly chasing one
We all certainly hope that the concerned intelligent citizens of our nation finally outnumber the people who have no clue about the desperate realities facing America. It is not presumptous for Kerry to claim we will win, and I do hope he is right.
I am going to close this with Kerry's inspiring close. It brought me to my feet:
Sometimes loving your country demands you must tell the truth to power.
This is one of those times, and Barack Obama is telling those truths.
In closing, let me say, I will always remember how we stood together in 2004, not just in a campaign, but for a cause. Now again we stand together in the ranks, ready to fight. The choice is clear; our cause is just; and now is our time to make Barack Obama the next president of the United States.
Wednesday night from the DNC should revive any waning feeling of momentum among Barack's supporters, if such a shift ever took place at all.
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