Centerfield

Much will be made of Al Sharpton's "off message" message tonight. If that's enough to derail the campaign then the Democrats do not deserve to win. Surely the speech will mobilize as many or more African-American, and others, as it will bring out GOP voters.

Dennis Kucinich tore it up.

So did Al Sharpton, and I usually don't go for his speeches.

Bob Graham had a really good speech but the delivery was total snoresville.

Eh, Al told everyone he was going to still pursue his Urban Agenda, and that's what he's doing.

It was still a good speech with lots of totally valid points.

Perhaps Rev. Sharpton's speech was "off message" tonight. But, I can tell you one thing, he spoke the truth. (And, no I am not an African American)

Political candidates usually try to take the middle of the road and appeal to as many voters as possible without offending anyone. But, that doesn't change the truth. It is about time someone stood up and said what is really going on instead of saying the PC thing.

I thought Gov. Granholm was a peppy speaker.

I just wish the people who talked about policy would be a little more amped.

Shalikashivilli is not a great speaker, but just the fact that he's at the podium speaking for Kerry makes an impression.

It was a switch to have somebody say something about policy. I was beginning to think they'd all been totally muzzled by Shrum & Co.

Cate Edwards is cute. She reminds me of Marcia Brady in being well-scrubbed. Unfortunately, if she has her mothers genes, she may not be so cute in 30 years.

I thought Al Sharpton was discraceful, and I think his presence at the convention will make some doubt the wisdom of the Kerry Campaign, and rightfully so. Him being there was not neccesary unless the Democrats have made the assessment that they could be in trouble with some African American voters, and I am not sure it is a correct analysis that most of them look at Al Sharpton as anything more than entertainment. The pundits on most news channels did not seem to be thrilled either, and I wouldn't be surprised if they made Sharpton's "off message speech" a story.

I thought Edwards had two jobs tonight: to rally the base and to sell John Kerry. He may have been successful with rallying the base, but I don't think he said anything that will neccesarily reach too many outside the average liberal Democrat. He was really stretching on the message that things where as bad as he seems to want us to believe.

Edwards did nothing to sell John Kerry other than tell us what we already know. In general I thought his speech was too rhetorical, filled with unrealistic policy goals on spending and foreign policy, and way too heavy on fluff while at the same time lacking substance. The best speeches so far have come from the future of the Democratic Party (Obama), and the past (Clinton), and John Edwards was not as daring or interesting as either.

I thought some of what Edwards said was facile. He certainly says it well, but he might indeed be able to sell the public on unrealistic goals, with disillusionment to follow.

I think Obama and Clinton's delivery made up for a lot of the fluff and lack of substance in what they said. It may not have necessarily been their role to present substance, or literal policy, or even (God Forbid) to talk about the platform, but they said what they said well.

Sharpton's speech might have been off-message in places, but it still centered on the classic liberal ethos. Also, he stomped asses and I guarantee someone who wasn't going to vote before they saw him will now.

Cate Edwards has a strong thing with Jackie-O happening.