I recently went to a John Edwards rally. I enjoyed it. Big crowd. Some good lines from Edwards, who showed energy and intelligence. But I also felt some of it was too scripted, that the audience, including me, felt unsatisfied by some of the fuzzy rhetoric. I was overall happy, but not as much as I should, or could, have been. We seemed to all be dying for Edwards to rip into those paper tigers, Bush and Cheney, but instead got a lot of the same stock phrases. I realize that many speeches must be given and one cannot come up with new stuff every single day, I suppose.
But considering the number and magnitude of the Bush-Cheney errors, how hard could it be? Excuse the pun, but shouldn't it be relatively easy to hit home runs against Bush league? I for one want to feel mobilized by my candidate. Not hear platitudes or slogans. I want heart, specifics, and a take-it-to-them attitude. I want to win. And if my captain wants to win, too, then he has to do more than make his team feel happy about themselves, he has to get them to sacrifice, which takes more than catch phrases and stump speeches. Doesn't it take inspiration? Churchill was pretty good at this, yes? And didn't he say "Short words are best and old words are best of all"?
I've been hearing a lot about Kerry's lack of punch in his speeches lately (see Josh Marshall the last couple days). So, that being said, here's a speech I'd like to hear--of short if not necessarily old words. What's yours?
Read More
