Friday, July 30, 2004
Politics: The Morning After
Most of the blogosphere, it seems, believes that Kerry only energized his base last night, and that he failed to make an impression on the undecideds out there. I disagree.
What were the prevailing themes of his speech? God, Country and Values. What appeals to your average American? God, Country and Values. If standing behind God and pledging possible military action appeals to that base (and I mean the Democratic delegates, most of whom are probably to the Left of the traditional Democratic Left), then the Democratic Party has become significantly more conservative in the past few weeks.
I had a conversation with my friend Robert last night about Kerry's speech. We both came to the same conclusion: the rampant applause from the delegates reinforces that most of those on the Left prefer soundbites to substance (a comment I've made time and time again). Outside of the pledge to drive more funds toward social programs, very little of Kerry's speech targeted Liberal ideals. And the majority of it dealt with national defense and military policy.
I'm eager to find out what kind of bounch Kerry gets from the convention. I still don't think it was a very good speech. Its rah-rah aspect might sway some undecided voters (frankly, Kerry could, and probably should, move further to the Right, since the A.B.B. portion of his base will stick with him no matter what), but its transparency leaves a lot of fodder for the GOP to work with come September.
|
What were the prevailing themes of his speech? God, Country and Values. What appeals to your average American? God, Country and Values. If standing behind God and pledging possible military action appeals to that base (and I mean the Democratic delegates, most of whom are probably to the Left of the traditional Democratic Left), then the Democratic Party has become significantly more conservative in the past few weeks.
I had a conversation with my friend Robert last night about Kerry's speech. We both came to the same conclusion: the rampant applause from the delegates reinforces that most of those on the Left prefer soundbites to substance (a comment I've made time and time again). Outside of the pledge to drive more funds toward social programs, very little of Kerry's speech targeted Liberal ideals. And the majority of it dealt with national defense and military policy.
I'm eager to find out what kind of bounch Kerry gets from the convention. I still don't think it was a very good speech. Its rah-rah aspect might sway some undecided voters (frankly, Kerry could, and probably should, move further to the Right, since the A.B.B. portion of his base will stick with him no matter what), but its transparency leaves a lot of fodder for the GOP to work with come September.
Longhorn Sites
Astros Sites