By David Hogberg on 9.3.04 @ 1:16AM
After a slow start the President came on strong.
If a speech isn't a barnburner throughout, then it should save
the best for last. That is what President Bush did last night.
His speech began well enough. The brief summary of his domestic
accomplishments -- No Child Left Behind, Medicaid reform, tax cuts
-- gave me hope that he'd skirt the small stuff and stick with
broad themes throughout. I was soon disappointed as the speech
degenerated into a litany of Clinton-like mini-initiatives and
contradictions. He talked about "restraining federal spending," but
then said he would "double the number of people served by our
principal job training program and increase funding for community
colleges," "fund early intervention programs to help students at
risk," and "will ensure every poor county in America has a
community or rural health center." The pre-speech buzz was that the
"ownership society" theme would receive a lot of emphasis. But it
seemed to get lost in the flurry for the dependency society.
Then came the low point: "Anyone who wants more details on my
agenda can find them online. The web address is not very
imaginative, but it's easy to remember: GeorgeWBush.com." It seemed
like both a limp sales pitch and a lame attempt at seeming hip.
Then, suddenly, it gathered steam. He began with some good digs
at Kerry, such as "My opponent recently announced that he is the
candidate of 'conservative values,' but "If you gave a speech, as
my opponent did, calling the Reagan presidency eight years of
'moral darkness,' then you may be a lot of things, but the
candidate of conservative values is not one of them."
From there, he cruised. He effectively linked our struggle in
Iraq to the War on Terrorism: "we are working to advance liberty in
the broader Middle East, because freedom will bring a future of
hope, and the peace we all want. And we will prevail." And what was
perhaps his most powerful passage on this point:
Others understand the historic importance of our work.
The terrorists know. They know that a vibrant, successful democracy
at the heart of the Middle East will discredit their radical
ideology of hate. They know that men and women with hope, and
purpose, and dignity do not strap bombs on their bodies and kill
the innocent. The terrorists are fighting freedom with all their
cunning and cruelty because freedom is their greatest fear -- and
they should be afraid, because freedom is on the
march.
During this part the President seemed relaxed and confident.
When some protesters interrupted, he handled it with style and
class, giving a smile and waiting for it to pass. And he handled
the naysayers on Iraq with humor:
America has done this kind of work before -- and there
have always been doubters. In 1946, 18 months after the fall of
Berlin to allied forces, a journalist wrote in the New York Times,
"Germany is ... a land in an acute stage of economic, political and
moral crisis. [European] capitals are frightened. In every
[military] headquarters, one meets alarmed officials doing their
utmost to deal with the consequences of the occupation policy that
they admit has failed." End quote. Maybe that same person's still
around, writing editorials.
That was, in my opinion, the line of the convention.
He then continued with lines that were self-deprecatingly funny
("You may have noticed I have a few flaws, too. People sometimes
have to correct my English -- I knew I had a problem when Arnold
Schwarzenegger started doing it") and eloquent. ("My fellow
Americans, for as long as our country stands, people will look to
the resurrection of New York City and they will say: Here buildings
fell, and here a nation rose.") And if the intent of the last few
paragraphs was to pull at America's heartstrings, it succeeded by
leaps and bounds.
If not for the first part of the speech, it would rate an easy
A. As it was, I'll give it a B+. But that is more than good enough
to kick off the fall campaign on a very positive note.
topics:
Medicaid, Law, Military, Iraq
