Rate Kerry's Acceptance Speech

[Mark_Henderson]

Forgetting whether you are for or against Kerry, the convention acceptance speech is a pretty significant piece of political theater.

How would you rank the speech on a scale of 1-10 in terms of delivery, content, effectiveness, etc.?

Especially for a guy with the rep. of being passionless & aloof, I thought it went surprisingly well. I know that the Republicans will try to hang him up on his previous Senate votes, but, starting with Bruce's "No Surrender", I thought last night's presentation was very effective.

[mgoblue101415]

He actually surprised me. Course I was expecting the worst so anything good would have seemed even better. Prepare yourself for disappointment, get surprised when it turns out good.

I think the hardest thing for Kerry was trying to follow up Clinton's speech and he did a pretty decent job. All-in-all I was pretty impressed by his speech.

[bideau]

I thought it was very strong. He came across forceful and confident. I think he basically issued a challenge that Bush is going to have to accept.

The biggest flaw was that it was too long. The typical American attention span has a tough time dealing with that.

It's no secret that I detest Bush and his administration, so I freely admit that my feelings are clouding my judgement a little.

But it was better than I was expecting.

[spiderman]

Didn't watch it.

[Mark_Henderson]

Originally posted by bideau
I thought it was very strong. He came across forceful and confident. I think he basically issued a challenge that Bush is going to have to accept.

The biggest flaw was that it was too long. The typical American attention span has a tough time dealing with that.

It's no secret that I detest Bush and his administration, so I freely admit that my feelings are clouding my judgement a little.

But it was better than I was expecting.

I share your feelings about Bush, but when I tuned in this speech I felt kind of the same as when I started to watch the Patriots/Rams Super Bowl. I was apprehensive that it would turn into the Patriots/Bears Super Bowl.

Kerry doesn't have Clinton's warm/fuzzy Oprah appeal, but he seemed strong, sincere and completely comfortable -- like he belonged there.

[Annihilus]

I thought it was pretty good, but still don't know a hell of a lot more about him than I did before the speech. I suppose this isn't the place for him to go into some detail about what he's going to do if elected, but still a little disappointing since I wanted to hear some more solids from him.

To me he came across a little inconsistently in his manner and attitude - but that could've just been spotlight jitters.

Not bad, but I'm hoping that maybe some debates during the campaign will compare/contrast Bush & Kerry more than I've seen thus far. I'd like to hear his specifics on his plan to get out of Iraq and fight terrorism and how it differs from what we've got now.

I had to laugh when he was talking about 'fixing' the disconnect between the Intelligence agencies in the US. Now that would be worth voting for alone if he could actually do it.

[bideau]

Originally posted by Annihilus
I thought it was pretty good, but still don't know a hell of a lot more about him than I did before the speech. I suppose this isn't the place for him to go into some detail about what he's going to do if elected, but still a little disappointing since I wanted to hear some more solids from him.

To me he came across a little inconsistently in his manner and attitude - but that could've just been spotlight jitters.

Not bad, but I'm hoping that maybe some debates during the campaign will compare/contrast Bush & Kerry more than I've seen thus far. I'd like to hear his specifics on his plan to get out of Iraq and fight terrorism and how it differs from what we've got now.

I had to laugh when he was talking about 'fixing' the disconnect between the Intelligence agencies in the US. Now that would be worth voting for alone if he could actually do it.

I agree with you, Anni, that the debates will be where this election is won or lost. I can see Edwards mopping the floor with Cheney. Kerry clearly has the intelligence and command of the language over Bush. But Bush has a way of making simplistic answers seem intelligent. Kerry can't over analyze questions and has to play Bush's game of "keep it simple, stupid".

[Undertaker #59]

Not sure I see Edwards mopping the floor with Cheney....in regards to experience, Cheney is a no brainer over Edwards.

[Annihilus]

Originally posted by Undertaker #59
Not sure I see Edwards mopping the floor with Cheney....in regards to experience, Cheney is a no brainer over Edwards.

I'm with you. IMO - Cheney is a tough, battle-tested mo-fo that is going to be tough competition (for anyone really). As long as he doesn't drop any F-bombs on national television I don't see Edwards dominating him in any way. Then again, I don't know a lot about Edwards either so I guess we'll just have to wait and see on that one.

I believe that Cheney is a big reason for Bush's first election. He might be a tough, opinionated man - but he portrays strength that contrasts with Bush's mild manner. It's a balancing act that can be an effective ticket.

[bideau]

Originally posted by Annihilus
I'm with you. IMO - Cheney is a tough, battle-tested mo-fo that is going to be tough competition (for anyone really). As long as he doesn't drop any F-bombs on national television I don't see Edwards dominating him in any way. Then again, I don't know a lot about Edwards either so I guess we'll just have to wait and see on that one.

I believe that Cheney is a big reason for Bush's first election. He might be a tough, opinionated man - but he portrays strength that contrasts with Bush's mild manner. It's a balancing act that can be an effective ticket.

I guess we'll disagree about this one. I think Cheney is perceived by many as a stubborn frail man whose temper will get the best of him. Four years ago, he was seen in a good light. I don't think he's conducted himself well during this term. He's got a lot of soft spots that the Dems can expose.

But we'll see when the time comes.

[joephoto]

Originally posted by bideau
I think Cheney is perceived by many as a stubborn frail man whose temper will get the best of him.
Edwards is a trial Attorney. Cheney will look like he's "on the stand". Can't wait for that.

You're right about Bush attempting to interject simple answers into the debate, his appeal to the ignorant.

I extremely dislike (hate ?) George Bush.

Glad it's football season.

[Mark_Henderson]

Originally posted by joephoto
Edwards is a trial Attorney. Cheney will look like he's "on the stand". Can't wait for that.

You're right about Bush attempting to interject simple answers into the debate. It'll his appeal to the ignorant.

I extremely dislike (hate ?) George Bush.

Glad it's football season.

It's interesting that this discussion went right to Edwards/Cheney because that's what I've been thinking about. I don't think either of them will wipe the floor, but I think it will be f*cking fascinating. I wish the VP's debated more than just once this time around.

I can't picture more of a contrast of styles. The trial lawyer who took on big corporations versus the ultimate old school CEO. I agree that Bush's simplicity appeals to the ignorant. Certainly there's nothing about his background that makes him seem like a regular guy, but he weirdly achieves that by being intellectually weak. I think Cheney compensates for that by coming across as such a competent, hardcore insider.

I hate what I see as a self-righteous, right wing Bush administration, but I think it's a little more likely that Edwards will seem naive and superficial next to Cheney. Edwards' best shot would be to piss Cheney off and get him to bristle, but he was very calm and reasonable when he debated Lieberman.

[Oedipus Tex]

Kerry lost me in the childhood memories section.

I recovered from my initial (strongly negative) reaction to his "reporting for duty" intro, and thought he did pretty well for a little while, and then faltered. His delivery was rushed, and it didn't communicate information about where he stands except on a couple issues. For all the talk about coming forward with a plan of action, he didn't. At all.

Still, parts of the speech were stirring, certainly.

It wasn't a total washout by any stretch, but it hardly redefined political speeches. A little better than average, but I expected more. I'll give it a 6. I'd give it a 6.5 if that was an option, but 7 seems like too much.

[Tiger_69]

I'd give it a 1 based on the opening line. He has not yet to report for duty (be elected).

I'd go into the negatives with his plans??