The Democrat Convention---2004

Sen. John Kerry opened his pivotal prime time speech Thursday at the Democratic National Convention by re-introducing himself to the party faithful and, he hopes, to undecided voters.

"I'm John Kerry, and I'm reporting for duty," the Massachusetts senator said while saluting the cheering crowd of Democratic delegates that packed Boston's FleetCenter.

He arrived on stage to cheers and the musical strains of Bruce Springsteen's "No Surrender."

Kerry's speech, in which he accepted his party's presidential nomination, focused mainly on the economy and the war in Iraq. (Key points)

"America can do better, and help is on the way," he said repeatedly.

In an attempt to appeal to middle class workers, he said that "wages are falling, health care costs are rising" under the Bush administration, and then promised steps to reverse that.

"I will cut middle class taxes. I will reduce the tax burden on small business. And I will roll back the tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals, who make over $200,000 a year, so we can invest in job creation, health care and education."

He also vowed to neither privatize Social Security nor cut the benefits.

But with polls showing Americans have more trust in President Bush than Kerry on national security matters, defense and security made up much of Kerry's speech.

"I defended this country as a young man, and I will defend it as president," he said after being introduced by former Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, a fellow Vietnam veteran, who lost both legs and an arm in the war.

"I really have never heard an acceptance speech where 20 years of a guy's life in the U.S. Senate is kissed off in three sentences," Greenfield said.

Those three sentences were:

"When I came to the Senate, I broke with many in my own party to vote for a balanced budget, because I thought it was the right thing to do. I fought to put 100,000 cops on the street," Kerry said.

"And then I reached across the aisle to work with John McCain, to find the truth about our POW's and missing in action, and to finally make peace with Vietnam."

the only thing that bothers me is that the dregs of the body politic are being offered by supposedly opposing party's as viable canditates for the voter to chose from.

Even Kerry must realize his voting record is damning to anybody who cares about the economy, about the military, or about the War on Terrorism. And of course, if he talks about his Senate record, he opens the door for the big "L" - it will be pointed out that he is rated at or near the top so far as his score for voting liberal.

Kerry's Handlers wrote:

Robert Shrum, Mr. Kerry's chief image guru, emerged from an undisclosed secure location - just where has the usually quotable Mr. Shrum been these last few months? - accompanied by Terry Edmonds, the chief speechwriter, supposedly to talk up Mr. Kerry's address. But they struck terror into the hearts of Democrats with the following revelations:

1) The candidate had written his own speech.

2) The candidate would try to be funny.

Mr. Kerry "wants to have fun with it," Mr. Edmonds said. "He wants to have a few moments of humor in it and lightness. So I think you will see a different John Kerry tonight."

I'm hoping the Dems shot themselves in the foot (painlessly of course.) They did their dangdest to show Kerry as a moderate or even slightly right of center--Kerry even threw a bone to the religious right--but their constituency wasn't watching, and they put a lot of stuff out there that won't hold up once the GOP starts picking it apart.