Centerfield

Kennedy's speech wouldn't get him elected if hee were running for President.

It's an interesting experience to follow the speech with the text in front of you. You realize how slow they speak compare to reading the text.

Kennedy was careful not to GIVE a speech that would get him elected. He does after all, want the focus on Kerry.

I liked it, alot. "The only thing we have to fear is 4 more years of George W. Bush"

anyone have the transcript of obama's minister.

sheesh...

Gephardt is showing more emotion and pep than I've ever seen before. Good job.

There's a little preview of Edwards speech in this AP article.

It's going to be positive:

"I think anybody listening to this speech will think it's positive," Edwards told reporters aboard his campaign plane.

He's going to try to maintain his sense of talking to real, average Americans:

Recalling the path that took him from campaigning for the presidency in peoples' living rooms in Iowa a year ago to being nominated for vice president at the Democratic National Convention, Edwards said, "I think the important thing for me is to talk to the people tomorrow night the same way I did to those people in living rooms in Iowa."

Finally, he shared some constructive thoughts on the 9/11 commission, but refused to make it a partisan football:

"Both of us believe it's important for the Sept. 11 commission to stay in place to oversee and make sure that we're getting regular reports on the implementation of their recommendations, so that we know that they're in fact being put into place."

He said he was not concerned that President Bush (news - web sites) might seize the initiative away from Congress in moving quickly to adopt some of the panel's recommendations.

"I don't think this is about seizing an advantage, I think it's about making sure the American people are kept safe," he said.

This, and Clinton's speech, are pretty good examples of the centrist style of politics practiced by some Democrats. It is, in my opinion, the most impressive thing about the convention thus far.

Dean is up. I'm still glad he's not the nominee. He has a negative tone to his speech, and not just because he lost.

I dont think Howard Dean's speech was good...

Dean seemed very sad. Understandably. He was looking at the crowd he imagined would be nominating him.

Obama is a fine speaker (better than Napolitano--snooze). He's talking out of the immigrant experience, which hits home for a lot of Americans.

Ron Reagan has some of his father's genes when it comes to speaking. The text of his embargoed remarks seemed boring, but he made them seem exciting.

His father had better hair.

Barack!

I loved his stuff on division and the media stereotypes of blue states and red states... He was very gutsy, well-spoken, and energetic.

However, I don't know if this new found Democratic positive message will sell since the only thing that has made this election exciting so far is the hate Bush movement. It is clear, at least on television, that negative sentiments toward the current administration is what still drives most of the people in the convention hall as was evident with the unusually long standing ovation for Howard Dean.

Kerry will have to give a pretty good speech and be more specific with his policy goals if the hopes to make this election anything more than a referendum on Bush, which in my opinion, he cannot win on alone.

Obama gave a pretty rip-roaring speech. In fact, I even liked it better than Clinton's speech, which sure surprises me.

Mathew,

Would you mind not using the 'hate Bush' phrase. It implies that anyone opposing Bush is a hateful person, and that is not well thought of in our nation. If you must use it, specify the people you're applying the label to. I think that's only fair.

Theresa Heinz Kerry's speech was a snoozer. But, if her husband wins she'd be the very first African-American First Lady. (g)

Erasmus,

I did not mean to offend, but only to imply that the Presidential election got interesting surrounding an ANTI-Bush movement in the Democratic Party as opposed to a Pro-Kerry, Pro-Dean, or Pro-Edwards one. That been said, I think there have been some hateful things said about the President, Terry McCauliffe and Michael Moore come to mind, by some who have acted in very hateful ways. I also hold this opinion of Repbulicans who have suggested that John Kerry is anything but a war hero or that his wife, becuase of her opinions, is a bitch.

Speaking of John Kerry's wife, I am not sure I could ever stomach voting for her husband, but I might be able to justify it in my heart just to make Teresa the First Lady. Her speech tonight, in short, was awesome... Very thoughtful, touching, powerful, and honest from an incredible woman.

Kevin! I am shocked you thought that speech was a snoozer. Maybe I am boring, but I was totally captivated.

I was suprised. Dean's speech was not very good. I mean, he said some nice stuff, but nothing that really got you excited or anything.
But wow, Obama was just awesome. That was one of the best speeches I've ever heard. Just great.

Matthew, perhaps my objectivity was ruined by the knowledge that she'd had the speech vetted. She normally speaks off-the-cuff and I found myself watching her eyes as she read the speech. It seemed to me that her timing was off. A polished speaker like Clinton knows where to pause for maximum effect. She just didn't seem comfortable reading the speech and that's what I keyed in on.

Overall, I enjoyed Obama's speech as well, although at the beginning I thought his delivery was "off". I don't know if anyone else noticed, but it seemed to me like he struggled between presenting to the audience and presenting to the camera. When he was presenting to the audience, he seemed very natural, embracing the crowd and the attention. However, when he switched his focus to the camera, it's almost as if he stiffened up.

Could have been nerves, or maybe he wasn't used to a camera, but once he got into the speech, he spent less time looking at the camera and more on the delivery, which made it much better.

I caught part of Obama's speech, must have been 10 or 15 minutes worth.

I think he shows astounding promise. He was very clear and well-spoken, and I think he was served very well by just a slight lack of what people usually think of as polish. Instead he came off as plain spoken, speaking to YOU instead of orating to the ages. People in our age really like this.

I also liked very much the themes he chose to emphasize, especially since they were cleverly crafted to address and oppose common GOP anti-democrat rhetoric, such as when he stressed that everyday people don't expect government to solve all their problems, they just think we can do better. That's bound to hit a chord. And the rejection of the blue-red perspective is another great note to hit. Both of these latter points are, IMO, synthesis points that attempt to move past common divides. My kind of stuff.

Of course I don't know anything else about this guy, so it's hard to judge whether there's any substance to the rhetoric. But if so, the sky may be the limit on this guy presuming no serious skeletons in the closet. It's quite hyperbolic to say so, but I have never seen someone that I thought had as promising a chance to be the first black president as this guy.

Responding to Hectorrican - Illinois Obama supporter here: Obama is unchallenged because Republican primary winner Jack Ryan was undone by disclosures that came out in his divorce records. The records were originally sealed by a California court, but in no other state would these records have been sealed. The possible revelations contained in these records had been widely discussed by the media and Ryan's Republican primary challengers. The Chicago Tribune (a Republican Newspaper) filed suit months ago to open the records. In the meantime, Ryan insisted to Illinois Republican leadership that there was nothing in the records that would hurt his candidacy and they understandably felt betrayed when it turned out he either lied to them or displayed a colossal lack of political awareness. Ryan's ex-wife, actress Jeri Ryan, it should be noted, had no objections to unsealing the divorce records, contrary to your statement. The California Judge was unpersuaded that their young adopted child would be harmed by unsealing the records.

Obama throughout all this has taken nothing but the high road - refusing to comment on it. Obama was leading comfortably in the polls anyway before Ryan imploded. No Republican wants to run against him because they know they will lose - remarkable considering the seat he will take will be that of a retiring Republican senator. Yes, Obama is a fast rising star, is the real deal and I am proud to have the opportunity to vote for him this year. We may all get that chance in the not too distant future.

Ryan's ex-wife, actress Jeri Ryan, it should be noted, had no objections to unsealing the divorce records, contrary to your statement.

CNN says otherwise. As does Jeri Ryan's attorney.

The records were originally sealed by a California court, but in no other state would these records have been sealed.

Excuse me? Divorce records of all sorts are routinely sealed in every state. Even more often, they are not placed in the court documents but are retained by the attorneys of the divorcing parties, to be produced only by court order or mutual consent of the parties involved. And for good reason--particularly in custody and alimony battles, divorcing spouses have been known to make some outrageously false "he said she said" claims to shore up their cases.

I have no doubt that Obama was set to (electorally) kick Ryan's ass. He has the talent and charisma. I also have no doubt that forcing those divorce records open was as sleazy as it gets. (I don't think that the still-sealed portions of Kerry's divorce should be opened either.)

The cynic in me wonders if the Ryan implosion might not have been engineered to minimize any possible repercussions from Obama's foreseen win.

Anyway... back to the speeches. Anyone catch the 12 year old girl's speech where she admonished Cheney for using profanity?

That's past cynical to paranoid, Kevin.

Cute kid. Shameless hustle, but cute kids are as essential to campaigns as Johnny Walker and caffiene.

Don't forget cigarettes, Tully, lots of Johnny Walker and cigarettes.

Cigars for the wheels, Mathew. Can't get those smoky back-room deals done without a true Domincian fog! And the Big Dogs get Cubans. It's the journalists and PR hacks that have to live on Marlboros.

Your talking above my pay grade now!

Mine too--the real fixers put it all on the campaign expense accounts.

I was surprised by the generally favorable reaction I had to the speeches last night. I thought Sharpton was especially effective, indicating that perhaps the Conservatives are right, the Dems should drop their masks and come out of the closet and proclaim their liberality loudly and proudly. And while they're at it, they can remind America, that what we call Liberalism is Roosevelt's New Deal, saved our country from serious political unrest and after 60 years,its institutions, such as Social Security, which are its legacy, have been accepted by all points along the American political spectrum.