South End Grounds

DNC Wrapup

I have watched every major speech of the Democratic National Convention for two reasons. First, I don't want it to be said that I don't at least listen to the other side. Second, I am a masochist. I can't say that I'm surprised that Viet Nam was the defining issue of this convention. If I were in the Kerry camp, I would want to play this up as well. And to be totally honest, as a veteran of the Marine Corps and the son of a Viet Nam veteran I appreciate Kerry's heroism on the battlefield. But that hand was overplayed.

In the major speeches that most Americans had a chance to see (Carter, both Clintons, John Edwards, Gore, Teresa Heinz Kerry, Barack Obama, Max Cleland and Kerry), Viet Nam was mentioned by name 17 times. That is in addition to the introductions of Kerry's shipmates and the hefty emphasis on Viet Nam in the introductory video. It would be easy to forget that he protested the war. Coversely, The organization that instigated the War on Terror, Al Qaeda, was mentioned by name a mere three times, twice in the same breath by Al Gore.

A Tale of Two Speeches

Barack Obama on Tuesday night:

Well, I say to them tonight, there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America—there’s the United States of America...We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

John Edwards on Wednesday night, among many other occasions:

You and I know that there are two Americas.

It seems there are only two Americas when one is engaged in class warfare.

Obama, Continued

I wrote here about Barack Obama, the keynote speaker for the Dem. Convention. Matthew Continetti exposes more about Obama's liberal record...and how his campaign has made life tough on a 24 year-old political operative who was just doing his job. The same job I would imagine Obama paid someone to do.

Yes, Democrats, this is the future of YOUR party.

Some Dems Staying Away from Boston

Updating a previous post that mentioned how Tennessee Democrat candidates may be warming up to their national ticket, Rachel DiCarlo of the Weekly Standard writes about Congressional candidates that have opted to keep out of Beantown - and stay far, far away from their national party.

Lies, lies, lies

Isn't that Bill Clinton's favorite Motley Crue song? No? Oh, it was "Girls, Girls, Girls." At any rate, despite his masterful delivery, Clinton's speech was full of, at best, half-truths and, at worst, lies. The RNC has set up Dems Extreme Makeover to set the record straight. Check it out to get the truth.

UPDATE: Rich Lowry has a few questions for Pres. Clinton here.

Shameless

Hillary Clinton on Monday night:

I saw firsthand the devastation of 9-11. I visited Ground Zero right after we were attacked. I felt like I was standing at the gates of hell. I hope no American ever has to witness a sight like that again.

I hope no American is killed by a terrorist again.

First Night Thoughts

I've been critical of the Kerry campaign for being dour and out of touch with the American people in addition for being totally devoid of any message. After watching the first night of the Democratic National Convention, I can't say that John Kerry has overcome either of those criticisms but we did get a few insights about the Democratic Party as a whole.

1. Bill Clinton is still the life of the party. I was reminded of a couple things I hate about him. He is the antithesis of all I hold dear and he communicates those things so well that I almost want to buy it. Clinton displayed a quality that he has heretofore never displayed - selflessness. Rather than reciting his own accomplishments, whatever they may be, he rallied the troops for John Kerry.

2. The Democrats missed a huge opportunity to have Jimmy Carter reach out to Southern voters and instead let the most disastrous failure of 20th Century Presidential foreign policy criticize another administration's foreign policy. They don't have another speaker on the bill that can reach out to the South. Democrats have written it off.

3. Algore is still bitter and look liked a man restrained.

4. John Edwards will give a Clintonesques speech and Democrats will ponder the same question Republicans did in 1976. Did we nominate the wrong man? Ford went on to lose that year.

5. Clinton talked about how the Democrats would run a positive campaign. Two minutes later, literally, he started in on the attack. They will not run a positive campaign

6. And most importantly, they didn't articulate one idea on how to win the War on Terror. John Kerry's valor in Viet Nam doesn't translate into success in this war. If they don't communicate their plan, only Bush haters will vote for him and Bush haters alone cannot win this election.

7. Clinton set the bar and Kerry can't top it.

Carter Speech

Former President Jimmy Carter accused George W. Bush of being a failure in foreign policy during his address to the Democratic National Convention.

In other news, Mr. Pot called Mr. Kettle "black."

If the Dems were smart, which they obviously aren't, wouldn't they have him make an appeal to Southern voters instead of chastise the President on foreign policy?