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Competent

42 comments on Competent

Competent

: There is no word that damns with faint praise more than “competent.”

John Kerry gave a competent speech tonight. It was a primary speech, the sort of message you give when you’re running against and not running for. There were scant mentions of George Bush but this was most a speech against Bush rather than for a Kerry vision.

What bothers me about the speech — besides the John-John moment with the silly salute — is its American defensiveness. He leads with making America “respected in the world.” As far as I am concerned, this should not be a primary goal of an administration; at most, it is a fringe benefit. We should do what we need to do and if the world respects that, fine; if France doesn’t, I still don’t give a damn.

And as one of the pundits said tonight, Kerry echoes Bush post-Clinton when he says:

We have it in our power to change the world again. But only if we’re true to our ideals – and that starts by telling the truth to the American people. That is my first pledge to you tonight. As President, I will restore trust and credibility to the White House.

It was, oddly, a military speech aimed at not using the military. That is a hard line to dance and he danced it: I can use armed forces better than Bush but I will use them less than Bush.

I enjoyed the ovation against Ashcroft. The crowd enjoyed cheering against Cheney.

I wish I heard more about health insurance, more specifics of the plan. Is this just a shift of tax dollars to create credits for premiums or is this reform and universal protection?

There was nothing to hate in the speech, nothing to love. It was competent.

: Robert George of the NY Post, on CNN as a conservative voice, says we just heard the speech of the winner. Nervous Republican.

42 responses to “Competent”

  1. steve Avatar
    steve

    “I enjoyed the ovation against Ashcroft. The crowd enjoyed cheering against Cheney.”
    Enjoy away, my Democrat friends. I guess the word “lightning rod” is unfamiliar to some people.
    Oh well. :-)

  2. Andy Avatar
    Andy

    John Kerry is the stealth candidate. The primary was all about Bush. Only Edwards spoke about his vision for America. Everyone else ran against Bush.
    The speech was adequate and could have been read by Bush with only slight changes. Kerry’s eyes betrayed his conviction. The eyes did not say that he believed in the words he was saying.
    “Repected in the world” will only happen on his Anti-War record. The only ones who do not respect us are those with other agendas. A larger military that waits until we are attacked and then goes after……somebody/someplace IF THE INTELLIGENCE IS RIGHT is a military that will sit at home.
    Tax increases for the “rich” (all those sub “S” corps making more than $200k) plus tax decreases for the middle class and increased govt spending means the money has to come from somewhere. Huge corporate tax increase?
    There is no vision. There is no future.
    There is no desire to “Be President To Do” anything. He simply wants TO BE PRESIDENT so he can perch on the highest limb of the tree.
    Kerry is the only combat veteran I know who revisited the battlefield and filmed his deeds.
    That means we have almost 40 years of lusting, scheming, planning dreaming for the job… But we still have no single reason, except he is not Bush.
    That may be enough. The media have certainly weighed in on the Anybody But Bush bandwagon for the past 18 months.
    Can America be brainwashed by repetition?
    Will the BIG LIE hold?

  3. Robert Pointer Avatar
    Robert Pointer

    I wouldn’t even call the speech competent. I’d say it was one of the worst speeches I’ve seen over the years watching the conventions. Clinton, Edwards, and Barak all did amazingly better jobs at the messaging, connecting, and passionate delivery of ideas.
    In fact, I’m shocked at how bad it was. Scatterbrained, not coherent in a message, cliched in the worst ways, and most importantly – NOT Presidential in stature.
    Bush must be doing the happy dance right now.

  4. Brett Avatar
    Brett

    Kerry’s VP choice didn’t bring him needed momentum. The convention by anyone’s standards didn’t bring him momentum because it’s been widely labeled “boring.” This, Kerry’s big salespitch, was lackluster, at best. Only true libs could get excited about it (a la Dan Rather). No momentum gained.
    If not here, where does Kerry get any traction?

  5. david Avatar
    david

    Wow how shocking you didn’t like the speech. Yawwwwwn. Someone who nitpicks about Obama’s dream of “one america” and Edwards reality of “two america” really should give up all pretense of being a moderate. Someone who still thinks W can “unite us” when he has failed to keep us united after one of the biggest tragedies of our lives should really give up all pretense of being a moderate.
    It was a Very Good speech and I can’t wait to see the debates. Unlike the idiot Lieberman who let Cheney step all over him, JE will trounce Dick…and then JFK will have W wanting to go awol once again.

  6. HH Avatar
    HH

    Dee Dee Myers said it was better than Clinton.
    Can anyone say “hubris?”

  7. david Avatar
    david

    >And as one of the pundits said tonight, Kerry echoes Bush post-Clinton when he says:
    why don’t you mention it was Greenfield who clued you on to this. If you didn’t know by yourself that this is what Kerry was alluding and you need Jeff Greenfield to tell you this god you need to stop trying to be a political pundit.

  8. HH Avatar
    HH

    Oh yeah John Kerry, leader of the party who questions the timing of captured terrorists, will definitely unite us.

  9. david Avatar
    david

    >Dee Dee Myers said it was better than Clinton.
    >Can anyone say “hubris?”
    That great Liberal Patrick J. Buchanan said it was a very good speech and Kerry really helped himself tonight and if this was his only view of kerry he’d have voted for him.

  10. david Avatar
    david

    >Oh yeah John Kerry, leader of the party who
    > questions the timing of captured terrorists,will
    > definitely unite us.
    Ohh yeah the Republithugs who screamed wag the dog after Clinton sent in some cruise missiles to try to get Osama will really unite us.
    Ohh yeah the Republithugs who follow someone like Grover Northquist who says bipartisanship is like date rape will really unite us.

  11. HH Avatar
    HH

    But better than Clinton? Please. And Buchanan is hardly the great Republican, he’s not even the great anti-Kerry.

  12. brad Avatar
    brad

    Anybody who is politically savvy and thinks that speech was not a home run has some problems OR a bag over their head. Everything that has happened up to this moment–including the tens of millions of dollars that GWB has spent to do a knockout on this guy JUST changed. The polls will show it and the GOP just had their challenge made about 100% more difficult.

  13. Howard Owens Avatar
    Howard Owens

    I finish the evening far more depressed than I began it … course, maybe I’ve been reading too much Layne. But. But I came to Kerry’s speech hoping he would give me a reason to vote for him. He just drove me away. Too liberal. Too anti-trade. Too pandering to the party elite. Too partisan. No specifics on the war. No plan. No friggin’ plan. 18 months of “no plan” harping from the Dems and then their candidate can’t deliver a plan on the night he needed to lay out a specific vision for making America better and stronger. It’s nothing but depressing. A home run? Hardly. It wasn’t even a bunt. Whiff is more like it.

  14. Kory Avatar
    Kory

    So as President, Kerry is saying that despite projecting deficits of at least $200 billion, he is still going to fund the troops with whatever they need.
    Yet Senator Kerry voted against the exact same scenario.
    Can he explain this one to me?

  15. Dexter Westbrook Avatar
    Dexter Westbrook

    The speech wasn’t a home run. It was uneven. Some of it was awful. When he was talking about his personal life, his body language was strange, he was sweating profusely. I thought, this guy’s Nixon, and he’s about to come apart.
    Roughly — the first 10 minutes were borderline awful. The second 10 minutes were very good. The third 10 minutes were below average (my program for this, that and the other thing, blah blah blah, recite talking point) but probably necessary to some extent. The finish was good.
    I’d give the speech a 7. Not outstanding, but not bad. And I’m not voting for Kerry.
    But he recovered well. When he was speaking about the militaryt was awful in parts, very good in

  16. david Avatar
    david

    Maybe W and Co. should have had a “plan” before they decided to go after saddam don’t you think.

  17. david Avatar
    david

    Kory if you are really serious about your question go read:
    http://www.dailyhowler.com
    you’ll see the mediawhores that Jeff likes to hang out with are just repeating RNC talking points.

  18. daudder Avatar
    daudder

    Jeff…are you kiddiing when you say:
    “He leads with making America “respected in the world.” As far as I am concerned, this should not be a primary goal of an administration; at most, it is a fringe benefit.”
    …are we winning this war ourselves? we don;t need allies…and respect. You’re dead wrong on this.
    The speech was great, by the way. He wasn’t talking to people who had made up their mind he was talking to those who hadn’t.

  19. Jake Avatar
    Jake

    One of my many favs of this this speech is the fact that he railed on shipping jobs off-shore, because companies should be paying Americans, not foriegners, right?
    But then only a few minutes later, he went on to say that he will make it possible to let Americans buy drugs from Canada. Isn’t that a HUGE conflict??

  20. HH Avatar
    HH

    “Ohh yeah the Republithugs who screamed wag the dog after Clinton sent in some cruise missiles to try to get Osama will really unite us.”
    Highest sustained approval rating of all time.

  21. HH Avatar
    HH

    Say while you were looking at the Daily Howler, did you read about Joe Wilson and question why the Kerry campaign covers for this liar, then covers up their support of him, then lies about the coverup? And then we have his approval of responding to critical questions with lies followed by “shove it,” while at the same time saying “Cheney needs a timeout.” Yeah, these people will be terrific at running the country.

  22. Chuck Olsen Avatar
    Chuck Olsen

    Does anyone but Joe Lieberman or Howard Stern get you excited, Jeff?
    I listened to the last half of the speech, and I thought it was terrific. You’re never going to get the nuts and bolts in a convention speech, people. That’s just not what these things are about. Broad strokes, principles, drawing a line in the sand and saying why things are better on this side. Making people feel good for what they believe in, and for what they don’t. Kerry did all that tonight.

  23. EH Avatar
    EH

    I don’t understand this new notion that the challenger is supposed to say what he’d do but somehow ignore the context of the incumbent’s policies.

  24. Harry in Atlanta Avatar
    Harry in Atlanta

    “We have it in our power to change the world again. But only if we’re true to our ideals – and that starts by telling the truth to the American people. That is my first pledge to you tonight. As President, I will restore trust and credibility to the White House.”
    Change the world, how? Changing it into one big nanny state run by athiest billionaire socialists, or we do all have an epiphany realize the error of our desire to live free and unafraid by submitting to the umma and dar al Islam. Either way it’s either serfdom, outright slavery, the gulag, or worse.
    It always fascinates me as to how many wealthy liberal invest their money and inexhaustable supply of hot air in convincing the rest of us that striving to be wealthy is a moral failing that injures the poor, the environment, or outer space. And with some simple tools it actually works. Go figure.
    Who decided that “trust and credibility” were no longer at the White House. I didn’t. I’m not that omnipotent or arrogant. I guess it must have been a finding by the bi-partisan committee on Trust and Credibility. I appreciate John Kerry’s concern that I may be to feeble-minded to decide for myself about George Bush’s truth and credibility. But he needn’t bother himself with me he has his hand’s full with people who can’t tell the difference GW Bush, Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Ariel Sharon, or Jesus.
    I don’t need to be told what or how to think by John Kerry what I need to know is why I should vote for someone who really doesn’t understand how the world has changed since JFK and wants to make me dependent on the government in order to be “free.”

  25. anne.elk Avatar
    anne.elk

    Jeff, seriously dude, what was the last positive thing you had to say about anybody, including your son, or your wife? And what was the last unbegrudging positive thing you had to say about anything Democratic. Are you getting enough fiber?
    Your being the curmudgeon is starting to bore all of your market, and you’re way from being interesting at it. And worse, and I’m just saying, being the curmudgeon all the time is going to age you beyond your years.
    People react better, and will like and respect you better if you are okay with yourself, and if you are positive about yourself and about others. Your son included.
    The negativity is really becoming a big ole bummer and harshing our vibe big time. It’s like bad karma and while we want to see you make it through this hard time, it’s getting very difficult for us to be with you at this time. Like real ugly d00d. Bran, but not too much. Chocolate. Try to find your inner child.
    You seem like a nice guy at heart, clueless, tall and overly white, nasty for some unknown reason, but trying to do the right thing. But really, this blog is coming off lately as one just enormous projection about your own issues and insecurities and it really is starting to get us worried for you. Around about November 4, I worry about your head asploding.
    Best wishes, I remain faithfully yours,
    Anne.elk

  26. Hollywood Liberal Avatar
    Hollywood Liberal

    Kerry came across strong, and confident. I can only wonder what Bush

  27. tony Avatar
    tony

    whoever picked u2’s “beautiful day” at the end of the speech deserves a raise.

  28. Harry in Atlanta Avatar
    Harry in Atlanta

    Hey anne.elk how’s this for positive vibes on Kerry and today’s Democratic party: It is wonderfully inspirational that the Democratic party and their choice of nominees will lead America’s forgotten “everyman victim” to their rightful place, rubbing elbows alongside Boston’s aristocracy and country clubbing with America’s selfless trial lawyers, by achieving the American Dream that for so long has been denied them by circumstance and a system that has been both purposely and unfairly stacked against them. That both these moral and tireless Democratic warriors waging a virtuous and unflagging war against the social and economic injustice that are persavise and malignant in America are themselves American success stories living the American Dream are rolling in scads of cash just wants to make me weep. God they just know how I feel.
    Positive enough?
    And Hollywood Liberal,
    I have never met anyone with half a brain, at least not living anyway. Then again I’ve never been to Hollywood.

  29. Meta meta Avatar
    Meta meta

    I gotta wonder why anne.elk and david read this site if all they want to do is criticize or psychoanalyze Jeff. Anne.elk’s racism is really choice, too: it should earn her an IP ban, IMO.
    “If you didn’t know by yourself that this is what Kerry was alluding and you need Jeff Greenfield to tell you this god you need to stop trying to be a political pundit.”
    “You seem like a nice guy at heart, clueless, tall and overly white, nasty for some unknown reason, but trying to do the right thing. But really, this blog is coming off lately as one just enormous projection about your own issues and insecurities and it really is starting to get us worried for you.”
    Anyway, this part of Kerry’s speech:
    “Any attack will be met with a swift and certain response.”
    scares me.

  30. kkl Avatar
    kkl

    I didn’t watch any of the convention, but the John-John salute reference really made me laugh. Good one!

  31. go balloons go balloons nothing's falling Avatar
    go balloons go balloons nothing’s falling

    I listened to the speech on the radio. I was underwhelmed from the very start – his John-John moment was a put off.
    I can’t bear to watch Bush speak so again I always tune in on the radio. Bush does have better speechwriters. While Clinton, the “Michael Jordan of politicians,” is the master at delivery.
    I felt like Kerry was trying to tap into yesterday’s playbook – this country is at war – I don’t give a rat’s ass about his formative years.
    I also recoil when I hear out-sourcing demonized. If democrats are true in their belief of multilateralism, it means building up the middle class throughout this world. These well-educated, prosperous foreigners are our allies and partners. We need to be able to strengthen our economy without resorting to trade protectionism.

  32. Chris Pierson Avatar
    Chris Pierson

    Jeff and conservatives: You miss the point about respect from other nations. If individual human beings did on the whole what they thought they had to do without worrying whether they had others’ respect, do you think the world would be better or worse? I think it would be like a gangsta fantasy, a world in which individuals would be more watchful for signs of disrespect than for mutual respect.
    It’s really time for the nation to get over this debilitating sense of victimhood. A lot of people on this board and on the right in general seem to believe 9/11 entitled the US to feel sorry for itself and to care nothing about anyone else in the world but ourselves. It’s time for the US to regain a sense of self-respect–a worthy self-respect, based on intelligent, mature action in the community of neighbors. George Bush (boy) is incapable of leading the nation toward any of those qualities because he patently lacks them in himself.

  33. Chris Pierson Avatar
    Chris Pierson

    “It’s time for the US to regain a sense of self-respect–a worthy self-respect, based on intelligent, mature action in the community of neighbors.”
    I meant “community of nations.”

  34. Theo Avatar
    Theo

    I

  35. Michael Avatar
    Michael

    “As president, I will restore trust and credibility to the White House.”
    – SENATOR JOHN KERRY
    That’s…well, strong!

  36. shark Avatar
    shark

    Not strong, it’s a cheap shot
    At any rate, this speech screwed him. It only reinforces the idea he cares more about placating Jacques and Kofi than fighting Al Qeada

  37. Michael Avatar
    Michael

    Shark:
    “As president, I will restore trust and credibility to the White House.”
    That line is taken from Bush’s 2000 convention speech, was it a “cheap shot” then?
    Surely, some of the lies alleged against the Bush Administration make Clinton’s lies seem petty and inconsequential.

  38. Michael Avatar
    Michael

    By the way…
    Did anyone notice that, true to Al Hunt’s prediction (among others) in the Wall Street Journal a month ago, the Bush administration reported

  39. Michael Avatar
    Michael

    The Bush campaign is now trumpeting the fact that Kerry, after voting to authorize the use of force in Iraq, described himself “as an anti-war candidate.” The claim is based on a clip of Kerry’s 1/6/04 appearance on Hardball with Chris Mathews, which is featured in a new 12 minute “documentary” on Kerry produced by the Republican National Committee. This is how the RNC presents the interview:
    MSNBC’S CHRIS MATTHEWS: “Are you one of the anti-war candidates?”
    KERRY: “I am – Yeah.”
    The real transcript of the interview reveals that the clip was doctored. Kerry was not trying to shift his position but actually reiterating his belief that President Bush made a mistake in the way he went to war. Here is the actual transcript:
    MATTHEWS: Do you think you belong to that category of candidates who more or less are unhappy with this war, the way it’s been fought…Are you one of the anti-war candidates?
    KERRY: I am — Yes, in the sense that I don’t believe the president took us to war as he should have, yes, absolutely.
    Bush

  40. Aaron Avatar
    Aaron

    Was I the only one that noticed the sweat rolling off Kerry’s chin while his forehead was mysteriously dry?

  41. Michael Avatar
    Michael

    Aaron:
    Must be a conspiracy — terrorists!

  42. Mork Avatar
    Mork

    When your opponent is George W. Bush, competence gets you a long way.