Posted on 07/29/2004 1:35:15 PM PDT by RWR8189
What John Kerry's speechwriters say to expect from his address tonight. (Not that they wrote it, of course.)
Boston
TONIGHT JOHN KERRY will deliver the most important speech of his 30-year-long political career. And Terry Edmonds wants you to know the senator wrote the speech himself. Edmonds, 54, is the Kerry campaign's chief speechwriter and a veteran of the Clinton White House. He spoke with reporters on Thursday morning, along with Bob Shrum, Kerry's chief political consigliere.
"A number of people wrote drafts," Shrum said. "But Senator Kerry wrote his speech." Edmonds and Shrum, perhaps the only two Kerry staffers able to read the senator's scraggly handwriting, said they often took dictation from the Democratic nominee. Then the two went on to lay out what the primetime television audience--as well as the national press corps--can expect from tonight's address.
Here's a hint: there won't be much in the way of details. "This is not a policy-heavy speech," Edmonds said. And it ought not be "overly long," he continued. Instead, the candidate will focus on two things: "values," and biography.
"We want people to get to know him as a human being, the values that have carried him through life, and the fact that he is able to lead this country," Edmonds said. Shrum agreed: Kerry's "Going to tell people who he is, what his values are."
National security will play a part in tonight's speech. While Shrum and Edmonds believe Kerry has already demonstrated he can be an effective commander in chief--"That threshold has already been crossed," Shrum said--the campaign also cannot afford to ignore the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "The issue is central to the campaign because it is central to the country," Edmonds said.
There's another way in which national security will play a part in tonight's address: Vietnam. Shrum gave a resounding "no" when asked whether the Kerry campaign had overplayed the senator's war valor a third of a century ago. "It's part of his life, it's part of his history, it's part of who he is," Shrum said. "The Bush people can talk about that issue if they want," he continued, alluding to the controversy over President Bush's National Guard service during the Vietnam War.
The idea is that Kerry's war heroism in Vietnam inoculates him from charges he'd be soft on national security issues if elected president. Kerry will offer himself up as a veteran eager to protect America in a time of need. It may work. But you shouldn't expect any bounce in support that Kerry receives from tonight's speech to last. Certainly Shrum doesn't. "This race keeps tending to return to equilibrium," he said. "And I expect it to keep returning to equilibrium."
Shrum, who is 61, looked exhausted. He told reporters he was losing his voice as he downed cups of coffee while chewing gum. Edmonds, polished and dapper, wore a tight smile as he tried to keep the details of Kerry's speech to a minimum.
Edmonds said, "I think it's no secret what the senator's theme is: 'Strong at home and respected in the world.'"
A few reporters chuckled. They'd grown tired of the cliché.
Apparently Shrum has too. He turned to his colleague, feigned surprise, his voice choked with sarcasm, and said: "Is that right?"
Matthew Continetti is a reporter at The Weekly Standard.
Of course not...it's a duping sales pitch.
Can't have a policy speech when ya got no policy.
This is really good news. Americans can use the extra sleep!
No policy.. I am so sick of these yellow striped cowards afraid to take a position on something.
They have nothing and they know they have nothing.
A good choice by the Democrats in the primary. A spineless jellyfish who is afraid to take a specific position on anything. He represents the party of deadbeats, kooks, and ignorance very well.
Let's pray it's really 55 minutes, like they're saying. An hour of Kerry will kill network ratings and anyone's desire to hear more!
I have news for Mr. Kerry.
A *LEADER* takes positions.
A *LEADER* tells us our plan and why we should vote for him.
A *LEADER* follows through with his plan
You sir, are no leader. You are a coward. You are a gutless speck of dirt with not enough moral character nor testicular fortitude to tell us what you believe.
The American People are not going to stand for this spineless worm.
"We want people to get to know him as a human being, the values that have carried him through life, and the fact that he is able to lead this country," Edmonds said. Shrum agreed: Kerry's "Going to tell people who he is, what his values are."Who told them that this was a winning strategy!? Have they ever met John Kerry?!
so it probably is a dog.
Excellent! The more people hear the real Kerry, the more they flee!
I suspect the speech writer wanted to ensure nobody thought he wrote that junk....
Just saw an interview with Bill Weld on CNN, that POS Judy W. was trying to get Weld to say something nice about Kerry...
Weld casually mentioned a poll taken recently in Massachusetts where 65% of the respondants said they believed Kerry would RAISE TAXES.
And as Weld said, "these are the people who know Kerry best..."
Like kerry himself, the speeh will be a vapidity wrapped in a vacuity wrapped in a platitude.
How can you say that about a man with such charisma?
The biographical movie, on the other hand, will not be forgotten. It will be one of the odder things ever seen at a political convention, will make liberals uncomfortable ("he's carrying a gun!"), and open up a whole can of worms as to how these home movies were taken, whether they were staged, how they were edited and packaged, etc. It will also open up for renewed discussion Kerry's actions in Vietnam, the statements he made on his return, and the Anti-War groups he associated himself with.
By showing the movie, he's making it all fair game.
With his "values" and "biography" maybe he ought to give a second thought to speaking about policy. After all, second thoughts are what he does best.
The fact that Edmonds is telling us that Kerry wrote the speech himself is rather interesting.
If it goes over well, then they can spin that ("see, our candidate can talk good....").
If it goes badly, they can a) distance themselves from it, and b) use it as a springboard for the inevitable "John Kerry finding his footing" stories once his handlers take over again.
Seeing as how it is allegedly short on specific details, I think they believe it will go well insofar as creating good feelings. Given that the whole DNC strategy seems to be "he's not George W. Bush," that's probably all we're going to get.
after the convention the Bush folks will be hard charging. anyone who doubts that President Bush knows how to campaign is forgetting what happened in 2002. they misunderestimate him every time.
This is a mistake on Kerry's part. Nobody cares who he is as a person. We've had speaker after speaker in Passive-Aggressive Convention 2004 tell us about Vietnam Kerry, and how Kerry's foreign policy will be exactly like Bush's, except France will like us.
Going on night #4, it's time for specifics, or it won't be effective.
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