Overview:
The convention was about, first, the administration of President George W. Bush, and, second, the war record of Sen. John Kerry (Mass.)
1) A tightly scripted Democratic National Convention ended on a bland note with candidate Kerry delivering a serviceable but not spectacular acceptance address that lacked a slogan and much memorable phrasing.
The controlled convention avoided conflict on the platform or anything else in an effort to give the country a message of unprecedented unity by the Democratic Party. It also succeeded in holding down the Bush-bashing.
2) Kerry's war record was a recurring theme in the convention, drawing a clear contrast with Bush. But that opened the way for conservatives to demand an investigation of what really happened during Kerry's four months in combat.
3) The speakers refrained from naming Bush or attacking him personally, but the attacks were at the heart of most speeches. Kerry was praised for being a President "who has not burned his bridges with our allies," or who "will not send jobs overseas." In short, Kerry was touted for being not Bush. Kerry's speech, for the most part carried on this message, and the nominee was not particularly compelling in that regard.
4) As an example of the party's desire to avoid personal attacks, one speaker had her speech returned by the party for being too negative. Her second, toned-down draft was similarly rejected, and in the end the party simply wrote her speech for her. Even Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's speech was toned down, and he is a former national party chairman.
5) The theme of "strong at home and respected in the world," while not a bad choice, was mostly without substance. Those words, spoken dozens of times this week, were never really given content.
6) The export of jobs was a large topic, but speakers typically stopped short of advocating protectionism, reflecting a deliberate decision to avoid that election strategy.
7) After nearly a century of platform disputes, the Democrats-in the interest of unity-approved by voice vote a platform that ignored partial-birth abortion, capital punishment, gay marriage, ANWR oil drilling and global warming.
8) The Republican response, carefully orchestrated by Washington, was weak. The talking points attacked the Democrats for failing to talk about Kerry's Senate record.
Kerry:
Kerry's speech was not bad, but it was certainly not the highlight of the week.
1) On the positive side, Kerry was less cold and off-putting than usual. This relative eloquence is reminiscent of Bush's 2000 convention speech. Still, Kerry was far less compelling than other speakers this weekend.
2) The text of the speech was bland. It was mostly thematic, avoiding specifics. But the themes were the same ones that the Party had presented all week.
3) Kerry, like all the speakers this week, refrained from direct attack, relying instead on the indirect attack, such as "I will be a commander in chief who will never mislead us into war."
4) Defense and national security was the dominant subject of the speech. Again, the criticisms of the war were broad.
5) The speech, with the "help is on the way" promise appeals only to those Americans who feel they need help. In other words, Kerry and the Democrats have put even more of their chips on bad news.
The Clintons:
The first night's main event was former President Bill Clinton's fifth straight convention speech.
1) Clinton is still the rock star of the Democratic Party. His entrance onto the stage was the first time the FleetCenter crowd got rowdy. None of the scandals at the end of Clinton's tenure or afterwards has dulled the enthusiasm the party's base has for their only President elected in the past 28 years. Especially with most of the base's energy coming from anger at the GOP, the Republicans' former No. 1 enemy is loved as much as ever.
2) Relatively speaking, Clinton did not steal the spotlight. Unlike his previous convention appearances, Clinton kept within his allotted time. Also, his remarks dealt with broad issues and general barbs. While not speaking strictly about Kerry, Clinton's role was primarily to fire up the crowd at the start of the week. The crowd was ready to be fired up, and Clinton filled that role fine.
3) Sen. Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.), the only one in the family currently holding office, found herself playing dutiful wife, introducing her husband rather than giving a speech in her own right. Still, she couldn't avoid giving her own mini-speech that had nothing to do with her husband or the nominee.
4) Politically, this wifely role was a good one for Hillary.
