The Convention Day Four
So this is what we had been waiting for. John Kerry the person, and we got it in droves.
Sen Kerry's 43 min speech was the best anyone could have asked for. He was personal and personable, he told America why he was running and what he stood for. He let a glimpse of the man that his family knows shine forth, in clear non-"senatorese". Yes it was long, but I don't think it got strung out. My only criticism is that he seemed to be in a hurry! The meat of convenions are the party faithful going banana's over a phrase or slogan. Kerry seemed to have little patience for the cheering and wanted to charge ahead. A small enough thing, but something I noticed.
I cannot compete with the professional talking heads on Kerry's speech. I am edified to see across the journalistic spectrum, of those journalists who do not have an philosophical axe to grind, be it liberal or conservative, that there was near universal acclaim for this speech. Hopefully you watched it too and drew your own conclusions.
My comment at this point is the day after stuff. Working in complete harmony with their fantasy world they live in, distorting reality less than 8 hours after the speech ended, the conservative pundits and the Bushies are saying talking about the "bounce". How the Kerry campaign will have failed if they don't see a 10 or more point bounce. The reality is that in this 505o nation we live in there are not 10 points to play for. A five point bounce will be a home run for the Democrats.
This goes to the heart of how Bush got to where he is today. Its quite insidious. Its the art of the underacheivement. When he ran for Governor, when he ran for President, and now for re-election, the insidious job of the Republican spin doctors is not to talk UP Bush, but to talk him DOWN. Lower the expectations so when he comes out the average man that he is, he appears to have done well. RAISE the expectations of the opponent in the eyes of the voting populace so that when the opponent does not do as well, they can say "well see, they are not so hot".
However I do think that the Bushies have a complicated handful in their hands. Its the concept of being positive. Now the Democrats were nearly Rovian in their ability tonight and the last four nights to subtly attack the record of the last four years, and then call for a non negative campaign. Their position is that pointing out the shortfalls of the last four years is not negative, it is just being observant. And frankly it's a brilliant marketing campaign.
The Republicans don't know how to be non negative. The Democrats set the table and the Republican's will be eating from it now until the end of August when we do this all over again in New York for the Republicans. The Bush campaign up to this point has been to paint a very negative picture to America of who Kerry is. Now that Kerry has shown America what he is made of on Prime Time, they are in a bit of a quandry.
It was a good week to be a Democrat. However great expectations make for great disappointments if not handled correctly, and I don't believe for a second that those people will not do everything and anything they can, legal or quasi legal to stay in power. I just hope come November we have a solid winner, and not another disputed election.
So this is what we had been waiting for. John Kerry the person, and we got it in droves.
Sen Kerry's 43 min speech was the best anyone could have asked for. He was personal and personable, he told America why he was running and what he stood for. He let a glimpse of the man that his family knows shine forth, in clear non-"senatorese". Yes it was long, but I don't think it got strung out. My only criticism is that he seemed to be in a hurry! The meat of convenions are the party faithful going banana's over a phrase or slogan. Kerry seemed to have little patience for the cheering and wanted to charge ahead. A small enough thing, but something I noticed.
I cannot compete with the professional talking heads on Kerry's speech. I am edified to see across the journalistic spectrum, of those journalists who do not have an philosophical axe to grind, be it liberal or conservative, that there was near universal acclaim for this speech. Hopefully you watched it too and drew your own conclusions.
My comment at this point is the day after stuff. Working in complete harmony with their fantasy world they live in, distorting reality less than 8 hours after the speech ended, the conservative pundits and the Bushies are saying talking about the "bounce". How the Kerry campaign will have failed if they don't see a 10 or more point bounce. The reality is that in this 505o nation we live in there are not 10 points to play for. A five point bounce will be a home run for the Democrats.
This goes to the heart of how Bush got to where he is today. Its quite insidious. Its the art of the underacheivement. When he ran for Governor, when he ran for President, and now for re-election, the insidious job of the Republican spin doctors is not to talk UP Bush, but to talk him DOWN. Lower the expectations so when he comes out the average man that he is, he appears to have done well. RAISE the expectations of the opponent in the eyes of the voting populace so that when the opponent does not do as well, they can say "well see, they are not so hot".
However I do think that the Bushies have a complicated handful in their hands. Its the concept of being positive. Now the Democrats were nearly Rovian in their ability tonight and the last four nights to subtly attack the record of the last four years, and then call for a non negative campaign. Their position is that pointing out the shortfalls of the last four years is not negative, it is just being observant. And frankly it's a brilliant marketing campaign.
The Republicans don't know how to be non negative. The Democrats set the table and the Republican's will be eating from it now until the end of August when we do this all over again in New York for the Republicans. The Bush campaign up to this point has been to paint a very negative picture to America of who Kerry is. Now that Kerry has shown America what he is made of on Prime Time, they are in a bit of a quandry.
It was a good week to be a Democrat. However great expectations make for great disappointments if not handled correctly, and I don't believe for a second that those people will not do everything and anything they can, legal or quasi legal to stay in power. I just hope come November we have a solid winner, and not another disputed election.
Comments