Posted on 07/29/2004 11:09:22 AM PDT by anniegetyourgun
Hours away from laying claim to the Democratic presidential nomination and making the most important speech of his career, John Kerry rehearsed a brief mock performance Thursday.
"Can we do it now," he quipped looking out over a vast, nearly empty hall where he will try to convince Americans Thursday night that he can lead protect them from terrorists and improve their lives better than President Bush.
Relaxed in an open shirt and blue blazer, Kerry arrived at the FleetCenter shortly before noon. "Great hall," he quipped, referring to what in other seasons is the home of the Celtics and the Bruins basketball and hockey teams.
Aides said the speech would run about 50 minutes and would include some contrasts with the current president, part of a strategy Kerry's team imposed on all convention speakers to limit the Bush-bashing. No new policy initiatives were expected in Kerry's address, aides said.
In a curtain raiser Wednesday night, running mate John Edwards praised Kerry as a born leader tested in Vietnam and now ready to protect the country in the age of terrorism.
"He wants to serve you - your cause is his cause," Edwards said as a parade of Democrats tried to focus attention on Kerry's qualifications to be commander in chief.'
Edwards got to work early Thursday, meeting with several delegations and trying to build on the chants of support during his address. "Do exactly the same thing for John Kerry," he urged. "The truth is, we can't do this without you. We need you out there working, organizing, getting people to the polls."
Kerry watched from his Beacon Hill home as Democrats formally nominated the Massachusetts senator for the presidency in a boisterous roll call late Wednesday night. Ohio put him over the top, just as he hopes it will on Nov. 2.
In his rehearsal Thursday, Kerry checked the locations of cameras, TelePrompTers and various state delegations from behind the lectern. He practiced several gestures and walked back and forth across the stage several times, smiling and waving to assembled reporters and a few supporters in the hall.
For his microphone check, Kerry jovially addressed reporters at the front of the podium: "Members of the Fourth Estate, I've called you here to tell you that your reign is over."
On the convention's final day, police anticipated a flurry of street protests. The Boston-area Bl(A)ck Tea Society, an ad hoc group of self-described anarchists and anti-authority activists, called for "decentralized direct action" but without violence.
About 100 protesters rode bicycles out from Copley Square on Thursday, through downtown Boston and the Back Bay neighborhood, challenging police trying to keep up on their own bikes.
Polls show a tight race between Kerry and Bush. In a sign of the tough fight to come, Bush taped new TV commercials, with his Texas ranch as the backdrop, for when the campaign ad war resumes next month. The Democratic Party also is preparing $6 million in ads for launch this weekend, pitching the Kerry-Edwards ticket in more than a dozen battleground states.
Hours after the convention comes to a close, Kerry will begin a two-week campaign tour across the country trip by bus, train, boat and plane.
Flanked by his family, Edwards, whose Southern charm and speaking skills are viewed as strengthening Kerry's weaknesses, criticized negative attacks by Republicans trying to portray Kerry as a waffling Massachusetts liberal who has failed to support U.S. soldiers at war time.
The North Carolina senator urged voters to "reject the tired, old, hateful, negative politics of the past" and "embrace the politics of hope" instead.
Like dozens of other convention speakers, Edwards' script stressed the overriding national security theme. He recalled Kerry's service in Vietnam, saying he ordered his swiftboat turned around despite enemy fire and plucked a fellow American from the river to safety.
"Decisive. Strong. Is that not what we need in a commander in chief?" Edwards asked.
Republicans, who have kept a presence in Boston to answer the Democrats' charges, quickly noted that Kerry had questioned Edwards' experience before choosing him as a running mate.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani cited Kerry's comments about supporting one version of the $87 billion aid package for Iraq, but then voting against it. "Does that tell you everything you need to know about John Kerry," Giuliani said Thursday.
When Kerry, 60, goes before the unified Democratic convention, he'll aim to tell Americans who he is, what he seeks to do and why he should be president. He is said to be planning to break through his New England reserve to reveal more of himself.
Others will lay some of the groundwork.
Senate colleagues and two of his presidential rivals will testify to his promise of an America that is stronger and more secure. Daughters Alexandra and Vanessa will talk about him as a father. Also speaking is Jim Rassmann, an Army Special Forces lieutenant whose life Kerry saved during a gunfire attack in Vietnam.
Delegates will also see a short biographical film portraying Kerry as a decorated Vietnam War hero and devoted husband and father - not as the wealthy, 20-year Senate veteran with a patrician's airs as some see him.
Chirac and Kofi permitting, of course: wouldn't want to alienate our allies.
And I, once again ask....HOW?
Kerry either signs onto Kyoto or he'll be in the same outhouse as we are now when President Bush said, NON, NYET, NO NO NO
(figures)
/sarcasm
I wonder if the writer of this story has wiped the drool off their monitor yet?
That's not a quip. (A quip is a clever/witty observation or response).
Gee, after all these years, now all of a sudden Mr. "Do You Know Who I AM?' wants to serve ME? Really? L'il ole ME?
Why didn't he say so? He's got my vote for sure now.
Yeah, right. Something I picked up from another forum:
Can You Name This Country?
709,000 REGULAR (ACTIVE DUTY) PERSONNEL.
293,000 RESERVE TROOPS.
EIGHT STANDING ARMY DIVISIONS.
20 AIR FORCE AND NAVY AIR WINGS WITH 2,000 COMBAT
AIRCRAFT.
232 STRATEGIC BOMBERS.
19 STRATEGIC BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINES WITH 3,114
NUCLEAR WARHEADS ON 232 MISSILES.
500 ICBMs WITH 1,950 WARHEADS.
FOUR AIRCRAFT CARRIERS AND 121 SURFACE COMBAT SHIPS
AND SUBMARINES PLUS ALL THE SUPPORT BASES, SHIPYARDS,
AND LOGISTICAL ASSETS NEEDED TO SUSTAIN SUCH A NAVAL
FORCE.
IS THIS COUNTRY:
RUSSIA? NO
CHINA? NO
GREAT BRITAIN? NO
FRANCE? WRONG AGAIN
MUST BE USA? STILL WRONG
GIVE UP?
THESE ARE THE AMERICAN MILITARY FORCES THAT WERE
ELIMINATED DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF BILL CLINTON
AND AL GORE.
John Kerry on Defense:
Voted to kill the Bradley Fighting Vehicle
Voted to kill the M-1 Abrams Tank
Voted to kill every aircraft carrier laid down from 1988.
Voted to kill the Aegis anti aircraft system
Voted to Kill the F-15 Strike Eagle
Voted to Kill the Block 60 F-16
Voted to Kill the P-3 Orion upgrade
Voted to Kill the B-1
Voted to Kill the B-2
Voted to Kill the Patriot Anti Missile System
Voted to Kill the FA-18
Voted to Kill the B-2
Voted to Kill the F117
In short, he voted to kill every military appropriation for the development and deployment of every weapons systems since 1988 to include the battle armor for our troops.
With Kerry as president our Army will be made up of naked men running around with sticks and clubs.
He also voted to kill all anti terrorism activities of every agency of the U.S. Government and to cut the funding of the FBI by 60%, to cut the funding for the CIA by 80%, and cut the funding for the NSA by 80%.
But then he voted to increase OUR funding for U.N operations by
800%!!!
"I think there's been an exaggeration; [President Bush] has exaggerated the threat of terrorism. There needs to be a refocusing, They are really misleading all of America... in a profound way. "
John Kerry
Democratic presidential debate
January 29,2004
Greenville, S.C.
Serve you? Yeah, he wants to serve folks like you and I....for dinner....and to the terrorists....and to the taxman.....and so on.....
You're gonna die never getting an answer to that question, you know....
Annie, it's become a long, slow, painful death at that.
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