Dems speechifying in Boston
Got a chance to hear some of the orations from the first night of the Democratic National Convention…
- For the first few minutes of Jimmy Carter’s speech, I was only partially listening. It quickly turned into a fairly blistering invective, but it didn’t register right away. Then it hit me, and for the rest of his speech I sat back in awe listening to the righteous hammer come down covered in the soft glove of that Georgia drawl. Wow. Among the Democrats with major stature, only Carter had the moral authority to deliver such a speech.
- For the most part I’m indifferent about Hillary Clinton, but when I watch and listen as she makes a speech I can’t for the life of me figure out why a sizable faction thinks she’s the one in 2008 if Kerry loses. To me she still steems too strident, too overtly ambitious to get broad support. Double standard due to her gender? Probably, but it’s still a real factor even if it isn’t right.
- Like him or hate him, Bill Clinton is undeniably a captivating speaker. I find it fascinating to hear the rhetorical structures I studied in high school Latin in a modern speech; tonight’s is reminiscent of one of Cicero’s orations against Catiline. A little dash of suthin’ style preachin’ was thrown in for good measure.
- Based on sound bites from the floor and the themes running throughout speeches by Carter and the Clintons, I think the Democrats have found their major theme against Bush: our recent military successes won’t keep us safe for long unless we repair the damage of our (well, Dubya’s) recent unilateralism.