BY DAN
KENNEDY
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Thursday, July 29, 2004
IN THE HOUSE. I don't have
an Internet connection inside the FleetCenter, so I can't do any
real-time blogging. But I thought I'd bang out a few observations for
later upload. I'll skip Kerry's speech tonight and deal with that in
the morning.
8:10 p.m. I've been here for
about 15 minutes, high above courtside, stage left and slightly
behind the main podium, surrounded by folks from Slate and the
New Republic. If anyone tries to leave, he or she won't be
able to get back. Slate's Tim Noah has already tried. I am
trying to limit my liquid intake.
Wesley Clark is speaking, and he
delivers a speech heavy on militarism and patriotism. "The flag!"
(Wild cheers.) "Enough is enough!" "Under John Kerry ... we're going
to attack and destroy terrorist threats to America!" "America! Hear
this soldier! Choose a leader! ... Protect our liberty! Renew our
spirit!"
8:18 p.m. Joe Lieberman
arrives, to the strains of Neil Diamond's "Coming to America." He
manages not to say, "Is this a great country or what?" He does say of
Kerry and Edwards, "They're not just going to win the popular vote,
as Al Gore and I did. They're actually going to get to take
office."
8:39 p.m. House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi is speaking: "Hope really is on the way."
Groan.
A few minutes ago we got an advance
copy of Kerry's speech. It's l-o-n-g.
I thought it was funny when they
played "Mr. Big Stuff" for Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell last
night. But why are they playing it for Pelosi?
8:42 p.m. Willie Nelson and
an African-American choir sing a song that appears to be called "The
Promised Land." No, not the Bruce Springsteen song of that
name.
Kerry's speech is embargoed, but
I'm not posting this until after he delivers it, so what the hell. It
looks like his refrain will be "America can do better. And help is on
the way." Gee, what happened to "hope is on the way"? Has it already
arrived?
8:46 p.m. Former secretary
of state Madeleine Albright is speaking: "He [Kerry] will use
intelligence to shape policy, not twist intelligence to justify
policy."
9:02 p.m. Kerry's speech is
good. And harsh! If his delivery passes muster, it's going to give
him a big boost. Check this out: "I want an America that relies on
its own ingenuity and innovation - not the Saudi royal family." Look
for Prince Bandar to start spinning on the No-Spin Zone, like,
tomorrow.
9:06 p.m. Carole King comes
out to sing "You've Got a Friend."
9:11 p.m. John Kennedy on
the video screen while his voice crackles over the PA system: "Let
the word go forth from this time and place ..." The reaction is
pretty tepid, and it occurs to me that the whole JFK thing is
starting to sound like my parents' invoking Franklin Roosevelt.
Except that FDR had only been gone 20 years when I was 10. If you're
10 today, JFK has been gone for nearly 41 years.
No wonder Bill Clinton got a bigger
hand than JFK when Clark started rattling off a list of "great
Democrats."
9:12 p.m. They're projecting
on the screen pictures of Republicans who are planning to vote for
Kerry-Edwards.
9:17 p.m. The late Texas
congresswoman Barbara Jordan appears on the big screen.
9:21 p.m. Out come Andre
Heinz, Chris Heinz, Vanessa Kerry, and Alexandra Kerry. Of the two
daughters, Vanessa goes first. "There was not one moment when he
doubted his ability to win," she says. Really? Not even in November
and December? It's probably true. Politicians are a different
breed.
She also says that when he told his
dying mother that he would run for president, her response was, "It's
about time."
Alexandra tells the now-familiar
story of her father administering CPR to Vanessa's hamster its cage
had fallen overboard during a boating trip. "The hamster was never
quite right after that, but he lived." She also recalls what he told
her when she was an angst-ridden 19-year-old: "Remember that you're
alive and that you're an American. Those two things make you the
luckiest girl in the world."
9:36 p.m. The video begins
to play. Fortunately, I can watch it on a TV in the press row in
front of us. It's short - less than 10 minutes. Your typical gauzy
bio with vaguely patriotic music in the background.
It accomplishes the important task
of going over his war record and anti-war activism, since Kerry
himself is only going to talk about that a little. But wait! Network
coverage hasn't kicked in. But wait again! They probably wouldn't
have carried it anyway ... on Tuesday, I had to switch to C-SPAN to
watch the Teresa video. What can I say? I like
videos.
9:47 p.m. A video on the Worcester
fire, and Kerry's involvement in the aftermath.
9:50 p.m. The crews of
Kerry's two swiftboats come out. The biggest hand is for Jim
Rassmann, whose life Kerry saved - and who, in turn, saved Kerry's
campaign when he surfaced in Iowa last January. "Nobody asked me to
join this campaign. I volunteered," says Rassmann, a
Republican.
Rassmann introduces Max Cleland,
who receives a hero's welcome.
9:56 p.m. Cleland begins
speaking from his wheelchair. He talks about being elected to the
Georgia state senate in 1971, a young veteran missing three limbs,
and seeing Kerry on television. "He put everything I was feeling into
words," he says. "Even before I met John Kerry, he was my
brother."
10:02 p.m. Cleland has
entered the main part of his speech, just as the networks join us.
Tells a story about pressing a Bible into Kerry's hand at Kerry's
South Carolina campaign kickoff. "My fellow Americans, John Kerry has
never let me down, and he won't let you down, either."
Kerry will be at the podium in a
few moments.
11:34 p.m. Just made it back
to the filing center. Instant grades: A-minus speech; solid B
delivery. Much more tomorrow.
posted at 11:39 PM |
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Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
