He has gone pretty far left tonight.
On the plus side for Kerry. I think he projected strength, on a visceral level, and that he would be nobody's patsy. Also, on a visceral level, Kerry never got out of the box that imprisons his persona, no real warmth, no humor, no light tough, but rather one that exudes a certain angry undertow, hectoring, the Calvinist John Edwards redux.
On substance, it degraded into a fairly stock Dem demagogue speech - so much to offer, and just raise the taxes a bit on the rich, and lower them on everybody else, and cut the deficit, and it will all pencil. The freedom from Saudi oil bit of course was a ludicrous pipe dream, made slightly more ludicrous by Kerry's energy policy, but ludicrous in any event. The Western economic machine will run on Saudi oil as long as it is relatively cheap and available.
In the end it was an appeal to the base speech. I don't think Kerry succeeded in capturing that precious swing vote. The man still seems really not credible in his pie in the sky promises, and it is hard to just have hope via a package that is so remote and stern. One doesn't find hope when taking a shower where the water heater isn't working.
I suspect the Kerry bounce will be underwhelming. I think Bush if he sucks it up, can end up with a net plus out of the conventions, when both are over. And then Bush will have to face the demon hectoring Calvinist in debates, in an odd wawy, as the kinder, gentler Methodist, even while the kinder and gentler one has this habit of handling perps more in a Texas than a New England way.
It will be an interesting election. We live in interesting times.
And that's the way I see it, disjointed as it may be.
PS: The stem cell issue worries me a bit. We baby boomers want to live forever, and most of us don't buy the idea that their use is off limits, particularly if it seems to interfere with our sentient longevity. One might not like it, but that's the way it is.