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09/02/2004: "Act Four"

Overture
Tonight’s overture is an encore from last night. If you thought Zell Miller’s speech was raw meat, I hope you got to see him go after Chris Matthews afterwards. Chris tried his usual interviewer style of badgering the guest and then talks over them as they are trying to answer the question. Zell did what most of his guests wish they had done. He told him to shut up, beat him verbally to a bloody pulp, and verbalized a longing for the good old days when duels took care of obnoxious, opinionated know-it-alls. It was great! I hope it becomes standard operating procedure for Hardball guests. Maybe after a couple of trips to the woodshed, Chris and his Producers will wake up. If they would let their guests talk, their non-existent ratings might even go up.

Act Four Highlights

Not shown in prime time, about thirty minutes into tonight’s convention a large group of men took the stage. I think about twenty or so who were representing a group of 250. These men were all Retired Generals and Admirals endorsing President Bush and introducing the former Centcom Commander General Tommy Franks. It certainly upstaged John Kerry’s endorsements.

General Tommy Franks opened up by saying, “I’m General Tommy Franks and I approved this message.” It was a good icebreaker and he added his endorsement of the current Commander in Chief. Tommy’s theme was that like it or not, we are going to have to fight terrorism. The question for the voter is “Do you want to fight them over there, or do you want to fight them here.” The Bush Doctrine says over there. John Kerry’s treating terrorism as a law enforcement issue means we fight over here. It’s the same policy that was in effect during both the World Trade Center attacks. Tommy Franks has made his choice. He wants to fight them over there and that’s why he is supporting the President. He ended with a salute to the crowd. For a man who has done that for thirty years, it seemed natural not like the rewind back thirty years ago phony reporting for duty one.

Governor George Pataki told stories of the generosity of the American people to the citizens and workers following 9/11. He spoke of the courage of the construction workers and rescue workers during the aftermath of the tragedy and thanked them. He then turned to pointing out the accomplishments of this Administration. The chorus line was “AND HE DID.” He went after Mr. Kerry for his “Hope is on the way.” Mr. Pataki thinks it should have been “Hype is on the way.” He followed that with we’re going to win one for the Gipper not lose one with the Flipper. He has a strange but not unlikable speaking style. He got his point across very gently.

President Bush made his entrance following a video narrated by Fred Thompson and without any introduction by just walking onto the stage. No surprise that he accepted the nomination. “AND NOTHING WILL HOLD US BACK” was the chorus of his speech. He laid out his plan for the future. Create jobs and keep the economy healthy by creating an environment conducive for business to thrive, tax reform, retraining of the workforce, health insurance co-ops that allow small businesses access to discounts that the large companies enjoy, health savings accounts that transfer with you when you change jobs, tort reform for medical liability (look out John Edwards you might be out of two jobs Nov. 3!), building an ownership society like the home ownership policy of his first term, Social Security reform for younger workers allowing them to invest a portion in accounts that will return more that the meager amount Social Security does now, continued education reform, welfare reform, faith based initiatives, protection of marriage, judicial reform. He did some pointing out of differences between the two candidates as to where they stand. For his policy on defending America, “Whatever it takes.” Short, simple, and honest. He talked about his decision to topple Saddam Hussein, which the pundits have been saying is a topic that's been absent from this convention. He joked about his short comings and spoke teary eyed talking about the American’s who have been lost in this fight and how much they loved liberty. “Here buildings fell and here a nation rose” was what he said about New York City and how it will be remembered. He ended speaking of going forward from here both domestically and fighting terrorism. It wasn’t filled with a lot of rhetoric but it was filled with some details of his plan. You know – plan – what the Democrats having been saying he didn’t have for the last four years on every imaginable topic.

Anybody heard John Kerry’s yet? Four More Years.