"The Democratic Party has a tendency to write its losers off. For years after he failed to attain the presidency, Gore was discarded by the very party that nominated him. After Kerry lost to Bush, he was similarly derided: It became impossible, in retrospect, for anyone to explain why Democrats trusted in a wooden windsurfer.
Achieving the presidential nomination is not easy, though, and tonight Kerry reminded the convention center of how he did it. Kerry wasn't exactly courageous as a foreign policy voice in 2004, but he was nominated because he had the potential to be one. There was a gravity to him, and a somberness that came of experiencing both war and its manifold betrayals. Hemmed in by a sense of political caution that reacted poorly to an adverse political environment, he never quite rose to the occasion. Tonight, however, he did. He delivered arguably the greatest speech of his career. "When democracy rolled out of Russia," he asked, "and the tanks rolled into Georgia, we saw John McCain respond immediately with the outdated thinking of the Cold War." "When we called for a timetable to make Iraqis stand up for Iraq and bring our heroes home, John McCain called it 'cut and run.' But today, even President Bush has seen the light. He and Prime Minister Maliki agree on -- guess what? -- a timetable."
I remember vividly making a special trip to a national convention of in Austin in the summer of 2003, hoping to see a spark in guest speaker Kerry that would give me confidence he could carry the banner for the Democratic Party in the following year. I was not surprised but disappointed to reaffirm my instinct that he is not a good retail politician for audiences beyond his home environs of Massachusetts. For a clearer understanding of Kerry then and now, read Ezra's complete column.
- Richard Holcomb
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