Speaking for Kerry (Peggy Noonan)

Opinionjournal.com ^ | Thursday, July 29, 2004 | Peggy Noonan

[No Surrender Monkey]

The major American political conventions have become like the party conferences of the conservative Tory and liberal Labour parties in England. The point is to showcase the party's reigning and rising stars. There's some arguing and maneuvering in the background but it's in smoke-free green rooms, and it's not between politicians but media consultants, and it's over things like whether the spermatozoa-esque pictures of John Kerry crawling in a dust free space suit should be a) laughed off, or b) responded to with dark suggestions of leaks by NASA operatives. They went with plan b, and a fluke became a story. Sometimes candidates must think like the king in Shakespeare: "First thing, let's kill all the consultants."

Unlike most Americans I have been watching it all on TV. I am enjoying it because I love politics and speeches. Some observations. So far, a lot of the speeches have seemed to be an expression of the Democratic Party's persistent problem, which is that it can't seem to decide on a message. The speeches have been about everything--health care, technology, minimum wage--but a speech about everything is a speech about nothing. You have to decide.

Some of the speeches had a stale, canned and fulsome quality. Ted Kennedy seemed ponderous and heavy. With his new round glasses he looks like old pictures of his father if his father had grown corpulent. He brought out old chestnuts, quoted JFK, tried mightily to rouse. "John Kerry offers hope, not fear." "An economy that works for everyone." "That's the kind of America we'll have with John Kerry in the White House." He has outlived his rhetorical age. It was the speech of someone desperate to move you. Speeches like this never do.

When Barack Obama began his speech everyone watching thought: A star is born. Talk about famous overnight. His Bill Cosby-esque line--"the slander that a black youth with a book is acting white"--was right for the times, which is to say in line with common wisdom, and when he spoke of blue states where "we worship an awesome God," he was not just hitting a note but using the authentic language of American evangelism. When you first see him he is a plain man of irregular features and jug ears. But when he begins to speak his features blend into harmony and handsomeness. This kind of thing only happens if you have magic. At one point the C-Span cameras went to an unhappy looking Jesse Jackson in the stands. He looked like he was thinking, "I don't remember passing a torch." But it was passed.

[Graymatter]

I speak for a whole lot of people who've noticed. Peggy Noonan doesn't have much to say anymore, and it's a basic rule of aesthetics: When you're done, stop.

I'm not happy about it. She was once so good; I thought her bad would be better.

[Mr Rogers]

I used to claim Peggy Noonan couldn't write bad. I was wrong.

She needs to move to Oklahoma (or anywhere away from the trendy coastal crowd) to recharge her American batteries.

[SpookBrat]

marking

[TexasNative2000]

Ron Reagan is too coached in media. He has the smooth round tones of a game show host. He patronized his audience. "Let me paint as simple a picture as I can," he said of stem cell research. This is how liberals say, "I'll talk slowly, stupid."

Bingo.