Delegates at the Democratic National Convention waited all week to hear John Kerry tell them, “I’m reporting for duty.”
Kerry’s been tarred as a dreary speaker, so both he and the party had a tremendous amount invested in turning that around. Kerry was also seeking to balance the image of the privileged, shaggy-haired, anti-war protestor, with the sharper lines of a confident commander in chief.
It is a tricky business having to establish the best elements of your own character, and to have to do it on television, knowing that the measure of the party, and its policies and the best alternatives for November can ride on a one hour speech.
Guests:
Jim Jordan, President of The Thunder Road Group in Washington DC, former Presidential Campaign Manager for John F. Kerry
Todd Domke, Republican Media Consultant
Brian Mooney, reporter for The Boston Globe, and co-author of “John F. Kerry: The Complete Biography by the Boston Globe Reporters who Know Him Best.”