My take is simple: sure he gave a great speech. Hell, between Kerry, Edwards, Obama, and Clinton, this convention has probably been a hit with the swing voters. But, remember, we're going to be doing the EXACT SAME THING in a month. Bush will surely give just as good an address (being a veteran of several awesome State of the Unions), and we can be fairly certain the whole convo will be just as inspiring for middle-of-the-roaders.
Kerry's speech was not nearly as sleep-inducing as we expected. In fact, it was rather quite rousing... Regarding the actual content, though, the Kerry campaign is making a very, very savvy move. By portraying Kerry as a hawkish moderate, they are appealing directly to those swing voters not particularly incontent with Bush but not entirely gung-ho about the war. On the domestic front, the same moderate (occasionally right - "fiscal responsibility" and his claimed "family values") message, the base be damned. You see, Kerry knows he can count on the liberals, such as those we've seen all week at the convention, to vote for him out of sheer hatred for Bush, so by going solely for the moderate voters, they in effect FORCE Bush to go further right than I'm sure he's comfortable at. Very savvy.
My prognosis: Expect a five-point (maybe higher...) bounce. No problems, though, as it fades rapidly, particularly as Kerry returns to his same old snooze-inducing self, and the RNC convo should turn a few votes, AS LONG AS it's just as good as the Dem convo.
The Republican party needs to spend the next month promoting Bush. They've been bashing Kerry for months now, and it would be folly to attempt to take him down immediately after this speech, particularly in the face of the liberal media, who is sure to replay sound bites of it for weeks. Bush needs to spend August outlining his plans, and make an effective run-up to the convention, and then score a knock-out at the convention. After the convention, call Kerry on his record, make a good show in the debates, and it should be no problems.
Have faith, my dear friends, we will take this election yet!
The speech was pure unadulterated Chinese food.
What have you been smoking?!?
WHOA,easy on the server.
At first blush, I'm not sure I agree. I think Bush & Co. should attack Kerry immediately and point out that 4 months in Vietnam do not make you a leader, a conservative, or even a moderate. This guy has been AWOL for the last 30 years on national defense, which has been proven time and time again by his Senate record. One 45 minute speech doesn't change that.
Good analysis. I watched the whole thing too. The two things that surprised me and which I think were appealing were his "energy", and his very politically moderate tone
with a military empahsis. Yes it is very savvy, however I think GW needs to point out that what we heard tonight about "values" is not the true face of the Dems; elect them and we're in for a social erosion of massive proportions.