DNC Meeting

[Julien Sorel]

I just slogged through the speeches, and I have to say Kerry stole the show. Well-delivered speech, with almost totally undisguised attacks at both Clark and Dean. He had a message that was geared towards the traditional constituents of the DP: unions, minorities, women, and gays. I don't know if he's catching fire a little too late, but I was impressed.

Clark must have hired a good speechwriter, because he had several Sharptonesque one-liners that were quite funny. His delivery was so-so, and he still doesn't have a good feel for the room: he needs to learn how to sense when people want to get up and clap, so he should shut up for a minute and let them. But he was solid, and he got several ovations -- I think he's the choice of the party backbone at this point.

Dean was a solid speaker as always, anger mixed with a touch of charisma, but also as always, I found his speech full of rhetoric, short on anything tangible. He did about as well as Clark I thought, Clark's one-liners making up for Dean's superior delivery.

Lieberman remained the WYSIWYG candidate.


CMB looked warm and intelligent.

Kucinich was fair. He isn't the most charismatic person out there, but he hit his message about why he could win. A little late, especially with his position in the polls, but he also effectively communicated his message.


If Kerry can continue like he did today, he may yet make a race of it.

Speeches are on www.c-span.org if anyone wants to watch.

[JI7]

1. i was kind of surprised

i was tired myself and getting tired of waiting for kerry to speak and was just going to watch a rerun. i thought by the time kerry got up i wouldn't be able to pay attention much. but his speech took off right away. he got in a few swipes at clark, but did it in a way to emphasize his own record which was good. but in a weird way i keep thiking it might benefit clark because it allows him to respond and clark comes across very well when he talks about being a democrat. i also think clark's candidacy makes kerry do better as a candidate. he no longer has the military service as his own among the candidates so he has to get into it more.he really went through a lot in his speech and it was very passionate. and since he went last many supporters of other candidates had left and they allowed other kerry supporters to come in and take those seats to watch him which i thought was nice. i loved the firefighters, and was surprised and pleased to see a few of them were women.

[Kahuna]

7. The difference between Kerry's attacks and Dean's..

Kerry isn't telling lies about Clark. He's giving his opinion. That is acceptable. I haven't seen any Clarkies quarrel with the nature of Kerry's attacks. So when non-Clarkies accuse us of being thin-skinned and unwilling to accept any criticism of Clark, they are following the strategy of their leader which is to tell lies about the opposition.

When I read last week that Kerry referred to Clark as a "newly minted Democrat" I actually got a chuckle out of it. Because it's true.

[JI7]

10. you know

it was the same when kucinich brought up how unlike kerry he voted against the resolution and organized against the iraq war. i had no problem with that because it's true. i'm glad kerry responded by explaining his own position rather than ignore or get upset with it . it was also the same when gephardt went after kerry for voting for nafta. it was the truth and if gep wants to use that to try to get support, then he has every right to. and kerry should respond by giving his position and explaining it as he did.

[molly]

2. I watched it yesterday afternoon while cleaning my kitchen

of course Kerry did well - he's my candidate so I'm always impressed. Lieberman did very well too - I was surprised. Clark did have some good one liners. Dean look more relaxed than usual.

[JI7]

5. kerry was VERY good

i didn't expect him to be that great, especially since i knew he had attended an event right before that speech. i loved how he just went through so many things. he is kind of getting used to it though since many tv shows don't give much time so he learns how to get in as much as he can in a clearly presented way. but this speech was VERY good. something to save.

[Bread and Circus]

3. I think Clark's speech was excellent...

but I agree, he could have worked the crowd a little more.

I think the issue is that he is not used to giving that
particular speech. He does so much better when he is talking
off the cuff or giving his "Foreign Policy" speech. He will
become stronger the more times he is on the stump.

Hopefully he will transition from defending his Democratic
affliliation into his proposals/plans soon.

I didn't see Kerry speak but I can tell you he is an excellent
speaker, maybe the best in the pack when it comes down to
his poetic cant. He reminds me of JFK, probably because I
love that New England accent. Very Presidential. However,
my wife listened to his speech and didn't like his sniping
Clark and Dean. I think all of the candidates need to realize
that we have a great field.

Clark, Dean, Kerry, Edwards, and even Gephardt would do us proud.
They have to think and dream big. They have to go positive.
They have to remind us of Bush's failings but quickly transition
to what they want to do to fix things.

The cat is out of the bag. Everyone knows Bush sucks. It's not
just Dean saying so anymore. But they can't outdo each other
by out-bitching each other. They have to out dream each other,
but in a way that doesn't sound like a progressive fairy tale
that no one will by into.

That's my opinion, anyway

:grouphug:

[tjdee]

4. I'm going to miss Edwards today, but Kerry was the best of that bunch.

In terms of delivery and style.
I was surprised too. Whoever said that Clark's entry is going to make Kerry work harder may have a point, because Kerry has not been doing speeches like that throughout this campaign. He has been very comfortable maybe.

But Edwards is going to knock it out of the park today, he's the best speaker of the ten. (Yes, I'm biased). :-) One of his best days was the DNC Winter Meeting.

Sigh, I'll have to catch the rerun.

[molly]

6. What time is it on?

it's still on CSPAN - right? I'd like to watch Edwards - I like him too.

[tjdee]

9. It was at 11am...did anyone catch it???

I was out all day, don't know if the rerun is being shown, or what...

[Cocoa]

8. I agree about Kerry

and I think Daschle was excellent as well, especially the part about being "relentless" about the CIA leak.

[JI7]

11. daschle has it

i know there are many criticisms of daschle, but the fact is that he has the fight in him. he might now always show it, but it's in him. and i love how he comes across as soft spoken which makes it hard for right wingers to try to make him out to be the bad guy. and before we heard gep with the "miserable failure" line , do you remember daschle saying bush "failed so miserably" when it comes to diplomacy on iraq and getting allies ?