Tuesday, July 27, 2004

The Limelight is a Brief and Passing thing - For Now


Hillary has just finished introducing her hubby. She was nigh-on perfect. Not to hot (Maybe a little shrill when trying to speak over the crowd at the very beginning. Her handlers really need to work on that. It is big-time fodder for the loathed talk-show set.) not to cold. No, she was just right. (So to speak... ;->) She was a loyal trooper, building up Kerry-Edwards as a ticket.

She almost had me convinced she really wants them to win.

One quote of note:
At one point she says she is there to "introduce the LAST DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT!" Of course, she went on to talk about Kerry, but that is hardly the kind of fore-shadowing that the Dems intended...

Bill's speech is brilliant, as usual. That is precisely the problem. They need him to spice the festivities up. (Read they need SOMETHING to get prime-time broadcast time. I noted with interest that PBS is covering the whole she-bang, as are several of the cable networks. Only the Clinton slot, i.e. 10pm/9pm Central which contained the Clintons was deemed more important than Summer-time re-runs. It is, indeed a different world than my youth.) The problem is, he can out-shine Kerry by just standing there. Hell, he could be standing out in Harvard Yard and out-shine Kerry. SO the speech is early-on and they, especially he, will be GONE by the time Kerry takes the stage on Thursday.

I am listening to the speech while eating dinner on NPR. (The commentator actually used the PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE label earlier...) The NPR guys are talking about how good the speech was. I agree. His only faux-paux was early-on when praising the little-lady and thanked Arkansas for his Presidency. (Apparently none of the other states mattered? Maybe it was just an subtle jab at Gore who failed to carry his 'home' state and lost the brass ring... ;->)

Bubba starts strong with a deft invocation of the ghost of votes-not-cast. His section talking about how HIS tax-cut was paid for was equally effective. (Naughty Republicans, cutting my Policeman while putting Assault Weapons back on the street!) Finally his "John Kerry says send me" section at the end was a delectable cherry on the top of the rhetorical sundae. The crowd was chanting the mantra by the end.

Never mind that the things he accused the Republicans of are the very items at the top of the Democrat party list. (The Republicans are the party that want THEIR people to be in control? Or the even more outrageous: They NEED a divided America? Did Bubba ever LISTEN to Edwards when he was stumping for his old job?!?)

But all those things fall by the wayside when speaking to the faithful. And the 'moderate middle' gets drawn into the nets by the charming smile and the clever turn of phrase. Then Bill & Hill move out of the limelight. They walk quietly away and leave the choir energized and activated.

It only remains for the 'PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE' to show up Thursday and reel the catch in...

Kerry is toast.

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