Senator Kerry last night
For my money, last night Senator Kerry made the best speech of the convention so far. He absolutely nailed it. My favorite part was this:
I have known and been friends with John McCain for almost 22 years, but every day now I learn something new about Candidate McCain,” Kerry said. “To those who still believe in the myth of a ‘maverick,’ instead of the reality of a politician, I say, let’s compare Senator McCain to Candidate McCain. Candidate McCain now supports the very war-time tax cuts that Senator McCain once called ‘irresponsible.’ Candidate McCain criticizes Senator McCain’s own climate change bill. Candidate McCain says he would vote against the immigration bill that Senator McCain wrote. Are you kidding me, folks? Talk about being for it before you were against it. Let me tell you, before he ever debates Barack Obama, John McCain should finish the debate with himself.
If Senator Obama’s campaign is smart that juxtaposition of Candidate McCain and Senator McCain will be a frequent refrain all the way through election day.
Two of the better pieces of commentary on why Senator Kerry was so good, first Jason Zengerle:
So you have to believe that the last four years have been difficult ones for Kerry. Watching the horrors of Katrina on TV, he had to think, If only I were president. Attending the funeral of Massachusetts soldiers and marines killed in Iraq, he had to think, If only I were president. And when you consider that, four years ago, Kerry (according to some friends and advisers) evidently convinced himself that, by making McCain his running mate, he would be forming an unbeatable political ticket, you have to imagine that, in some way, he blames McCain for his defeat–and, as is the fate of all defeated presidential candidates, that he therefore blames McCain for all the problems of the world that he believes his presidency would have prevented or solved. If that isn’t enough to help someone find his voice, I don’t know what is.
Now Matt Yglesias:
One thing I don’t think people always understand about Kerry is that he was talked about as a likely presidential contender as far back as the early 1970s. Consequently, his entire political career in Massachusetts was understood as a precursor to a presidential run. This, in turn, led to a tendency among other Massachusetts Democrats to unfairly assume that each and every case of Kerry doing something they weren’t thrilled with reflected his opportunistic drive for the White House. For the past two years or so has been the first time in decades when it’s been clear that Kerry won’t ever be president, so his action can be — and be seen as — merely the actions of a United States Senator with a safe seat and a passionate concern for certain issues and causes. As with Al Gore’s somewhat similar liberation from Presidential ambitions, I think in part it’s about letting him find his own voice but also in large part about his voice finally being heard as his own rather than read through the lens of devious ambition.
Perhaps even more impressive? Reports are that Senator Kerry wrote the speech himself, no speechwriter necessary. Whats depressing is that if Senator Kerry had given speeches like this in 2004 he’d be running for reelection right now.
Holla at me