Man, some people are hard to please.  Kerry, for the first time that I can remember, gives a great speech, after a brilliant speech from Bill, on the night following great speeches from Schweitzer, Hillary, and a bunch of other people (honestly, even Bob Casey stepped it up and gave a good speech)...and we get complaints that they weren't great in the right way.

noam sceiber writes:

-- Team Obama should have inserted similar language into every speech this week (with the possible exception of Biden, the Clintons, and Michelle).

There were other speeches? I "watched" the convention on TV but honestly didn't pay much attention to the other speeches. I suspect I was not alone. This perhaps exemplifies the difference between how the media observes the convention and how the public outside views it.

Noam Scheiber - sorry for mangling your name, the fault of my poor typing and the teeny editing window TNR blesses us with.

I absolutely agree Noam. I think what everyone is trying to say in their criticism, is that Democrats should've done more subtle character-assassinating against McCain, and they failed to do this thus far, with the exception of Kerry.

Maybe its just me, but making a clear, concise, anti-McCain speech seems relatively easy:

Start by praising his service in Vietnam over and over again, then, take his campaign message, "country first," and run with it. "Does John McCain really put his country first when he reverses his position on the Bush tax cuts? Does he put country first when he reverses his position on his own immigration bill to win a primary? When he votes to sanction torture? Reverses his position on climate change? Does he put country first when he sells out the average American worker? Does he really stand up for the military when he fights against veterans benefits in Congress?

And when jobs are being shipped away and our military serves honorably, the best John McCain can do is talk about Britney Spears? We honor his service as a navy officer, but not as a politician etc. etc." The pivot to Obama.

Why couldn't someone give this speech (besides Kerry)? Its incredibly, incredibly frustrating. McCain's recent record practically writes an opposition speech for itself, and yet the Democratic party hasn't seized on this. Can someone explain why?

Also a line about McCain, saying something like "we honor your service, now its time you honor ours; the service of our workers in Ohio, and of our marines, and soldiers, and national guardsmen, and reservists" would've been effective rhetoric, I think.

On a related note, where the heck was Jim Webb on national-security night at the DNC?

Kerry was terrific. As was Hillary. As was Bill. As was Biden, As was Michelle. As was Teddy. As was....

What a convention! And only made possible by the galvanizing fiasco of the last eight years. The extraordinary failure of the GOP, coupled with their extraordinary arrogance, seems to have transformed the Democratic Party, turning them into something fearsome.

Obama is the right guy at the right time, but it's not about Obama. It's all happening as a reaction to the incredible mess we're in. George Bush has virtually destroyed the Republican Party and has inspired a new  generation of Democrats.

Pray that Bush and McCain share the stage in St. Paul. Wonderful irony. Paul took Christianity down the wrong road, Bush has taken the GOP down the wrong road...wonder where McCain is headed?

Noam, I would seriously recommend you go back and re-watch the "other speeches."

You cannot exclude the Clintons, Biden, and Michelle and then try to make a bogus point about defining John McCain.  What other speeches have you been watching?

You must have missed Bob Casey.  And Janet Napolitano.  And Kathleen Sebelius.  And Nancy Pelosi.  And on and on and on and on.

Hyperbole has seriously handicapped the reporting on this convention.  One day, the attacks and defining of McCain are too much and what voters really want to hear about is Obama.  The next day, it is too much wishy washy about Obama and what voters really want to here is defining John McCain.

In the end, what you have is a pack of dogs chasing their tails.  Go get a flea dip, Scheiber.

The complaints about the first day or two having been "lost" strikes me as churlish and ignorant of how a convention builds momentum. To the contrary, I think each night has improved on the previous night's accomplishments. And it's set us up for an amazing finale, which I think it will deliver.

What I like best about Kerry's speech -- even more than Biden's and Bill Clinton's -- is that it most effectively used ridicule against McCain. He really knocked it out of the park with that "are you kidding me?" line, in which he belittled McCain for having said that he would vote against a bill he himself sponsored. And Kerry's "before it, against it" dig was the icing on the cake.

The way McCain is going to be neutralized is not merely with contrasts or outright attacks, but with a kind of snarkiness that makes him look silly, craven and like just another politician. Kerry's use of ridicule was exactly pitch perfect.

The Goldilocks impression that the press has engaged in for the last three days is exhausting me. Furthermore they ignore the fact that most people are watching or will see clips of one or two speakers a night. Every night, the Democrats have had one or two powerhouse speeches that have had to address several goals: Proving Obama is ready, Proving Obama is "American enough", "unity," proving Michelle loves America, defining McCain, attacking McCain, saying things about McCain that the press will not say because they're smitten with him, his maverick image and they're too busy discussing Hillary/Bill v. Barack to actually talk about issues.

Maybe if the press did its job, the Democratic convention would be able to be exactly what the press wants, which as dirkleisure pointed out, is be both too hot, too cold and just right.

This is part of the reason that Democrats have trouble winning elections: The right wing press unfairly and shamelessly smears Democrats and the rest of the media, even if they are liberal, are prone to the naval-gazing and pussification that comes from spending time working for a college newspaper.

Avoiding A Long, Disappointing Fall by John B. Judis Why Political Speechmaking Sounds So Weird by John

On CNN.com, here's the GOP response to Kerry's speech:

"John Kerry descended into a parody of himself tonight, when he explained that he was actually for John McCain before he was against him," said Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant. "At some point bitterness becomes a sickness."

Notice that Conant doesn't refute any of Kerry's flip-flopping charges against McCain; he just spews a nonsensical generality. Also take notice of the word "bitter", for this was similarly used against Scott McEllan when his book was released yet not one Republican bothered to counter so much as a single McEllan claim with any depth. Both with Kerry and McEllan and others, the GOP is simply unable to debate rock-solid points because, as is obvious, they know these are inconvenient truths they so very much love to ignore.

On CNN.com, here's the GOP response to Kerry's speech:

"John Kerry descended into a parody of himself tonight, when he explained that he was actually for John McCain before he was against him," said Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant. "At some point bitterness becomes a sickness."

Notice that Conant doesn't refute any of Kerry's flip-flopping charges against McCain; he just spews a nonsensical generality. Also take notice of the word "bitter", for this was similarly used against Scott McEllan when his book was released yet not one Republican bothered to counter so much as a single McEllan claim with any depth. Both with Kerry and McEllan and others, the GOP is simply unable to debate rock-solid points because, as is obvious, they know these are inconvenient truths they so very much love to ignore.

On balance, this week has been a success for the Obama campaign. Assuming he turns in a strong performance