John Kerry’s Speech and an Ode to My New Running Shoes

Tonight sure was something! Kerry, who isn’t really a very charismatic, pithy, or particularly eloquent speaker spoke quite well. He wasn’t Bill Clinton, he wasn’t even John Edwards, but he outlined his vision with heart and the courage to be himself instead of trying to be some other more stirring speaker.

Pundits have said going into this evening’s speech that the true test of success for Kerry would be whether or not he was able to define himself to the American people. Tonight, I think he did that remarkably. He addressed Bush’s allegations of waffling with a clever statement about his ability to see distinctions and articulated that issues are never simple enough to be bolied down into a soundbite.

Still, he delivered enough pithy one-liners to keep the news services happy as pigs in shit. My two favorites were, “we need a president who believes in science,” and “America can do better than giving Enron a big tax break our of the pockets of hardworking people.”

All in all, I think he performed well. Whether or not the performance will give him a bump in the polls remains to be seen, but he sure as hell reminded me tonight why I’m supporting him.