They forgot to drop the balloons last night, and the producer got angry, and CNN got it on tape, reports AP:
"'Go balloons,' said convention producer Don Mischer, instructing the balloon droppers. 'Go balloons. Go balloons!' His voice was becoming increasingly frantic - and it was going out over CNN.
'I don't see anything happening,' he said angrily. Unknown to him, CNN was running his name and title across the bottom of the screen."
Behind the Curtain is exhausted by now -- exhausted by political speeches, political reporters, political celebrities, political talking points, political "debates," political polls, political pundits, political parties and political Parties. And balloons.
Exhausted by the likes of the polymath Matt Lauer telling him The Meaning of Kerry's Speech just minutes after (or was it before?) an update on the Kobe trial (or was it Scott Peterson?). Exhausted by Chris Matthews and Andrea Mitchell and Willie Brown and Marc Racicot (pronounced "Rosco" -- can anyone explain this to BTC? Schwitters: you must know). Exhausted by the fact that the future of the country will probably be decided by a few thousand voters in Ohio. Exhausted by the words "battleground" and "war chest" and "red meat" and "stronger at home and respected abroad" and "527s" and "bounce" and "flip-flopper" and all the other insidery code words that rarely mean what they really mean.
And the fun has just begun.
Sen. John Kerry accepted the Democratic nomination last night in a speech that was delivered awkwardly at times but had its moments. The man isn't a great orator, but we should keep in mind that the hype surrounding the speech had little to do with determining whether or not he can lead us in war or solve the budget mess and a lot to do with TV ratings, like the Super Bowl or the "Survivor" (or "The Bachelor") finale.
Still, these speeches are a decent measure of whether the candidate can lead and inspire.
So watch it on C-Span and decide for yourself.
During the speech BTC was busy reading real-time commentary from a select group of readers and posting it to our Web site, so his judgment shouldn't be trusted (nor should it ever!).
From what we did see, Kerry was sweating a lot (shades of Nixon during the '60 debate?) and looked like he was shuffling his feet. But he used 45 minutes to introduce himself to the American public (he's a Vietnam veteran -- did you catch that?) and made lots of declarative sentences, both big pluses for him.
He played up "patriotism," "faith," "family" and national defense in the hopes of neutralizing these Republican "themes." He used variations of the word "strength" 17 times, according to The New York Times (whose job was it to count?)
"You see that flag up there. We call her Old Glory. The stars and stripes forever. I fought under that flag, as did so many of you here and all across our country. That flag flew from the gun turret right behind my head. It was shot through and through and tattered, but it never ceased to wave in the wind. It draped the caskets of men I served with and friends I grew up with. For us, that flag is the most powerful symbol of who we are and what we believe in. Our strength. Our diversity. Our love of country. All that makes America both great and good. That flag doesn't belong to any president. It doesn't belong to any ideology and it doesn't belong to any political party. It belongs to all the American people."
"For four years, we've heard a lot of talk about values. But values spoken without actions taken are just slogans. Values are not just words. They're what we live by. They're about the causes we champion and the people we fight for. And it is time for those who talk about family values to start valuing families."
Kerry also said he'd "restore trust and credibility" to the White House, a very explicit echo of a Bush 2000 slogan ("restore honor and dignity.") You might just hear every challenger say it every four years from now on, given the veracity challenges of being the president.
Kerry also mentioned a "new birth of freedom," a Lincoln line used to zero effect by Steve Forbes in 2000. You think Kerry's a bad campaigner? You should see Forbes! The man had to pay his "volunteers" -- and handsomely.
Here's the text
David Postman reports that Kerry and Edwards will be here next month.
They'll be here in about two weeks.
Kerry's problem, as campaign Chairman Marc Racicot ("Rosco") demonstrated this morning when he toyed with Matt Lauer on "Today," is his 20-year Senate record. As Bob Dole has said, running for president as a senator is difficult because in the Senate you make lots of votes -- thousands -- for lots of different reasons. You trade them, you make a statement, you help a constituent. Then there are the votes (the key ones being the vote in favor of the Iraq war resolution and against the $87 billion supplemental for the war) Kerry will be continually challenged on. Every day he has to explain these votes (like cutting intel or defense in the 90s) is a day he can't focus on his message that Bush has failed and should be fired.
Them's the rules.
President Bush is back on the trail.
"Offering broad outlines of his re-election agenda, President Bush is promising better times and fresh ideas as he focuses on helping Americans adjust to the changing economy.
Opening a new phase of his campaign, the president will try to energize supporters in heavily Republican parts of Missouri and Michigan on Friday, a day after the Democratic Party's convention ended with the nomination of rival John Kerry.
Bush did not stay up to watch Kerry's convention address but read and saw reports about it, spokesman Scott McClellan said. Adviser Karl Rove watched the speech, McClellan told reporters.
'I think the senator of Massachusetts is a walking contradiction,' McClellan said. Although he called the speech 'nicely crafted,' he criticized Kerry's Senate record and said Kerry is 'running as fast and as far as he can from that record.'
We've got lots of catching up to do on state and regional politics, as the convention has kept us busy with Kerry and the Democrats. Look for good local and regional stuff over the weekend and early next week.
Keep checking back. We'll have fun.
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