OK, I may be taking most of the evening off, but I'm not going to miss a chance to live-blog this. Kerry just hugged a bunch of guys who look like they prefer handshakes, and now he's thanking the crowd. Here we go (all times CT):

9:12 - I'm reporting for duty? With a salute? Out of uniform? That was lame ...

9:14 - So far, he's no Barack Obama. He's home. We get it.

9:15 - Cute joke about the West Wing. Made me smile.

9:15 - "Trees as the cathedral of nature". Hug a cathedral today.

9:18 - Those of you who had the 6-minute square in the Jack Kennedy reference pool just won the kitty. So far, not too bad. He's got some energy and a bit of humor, although he just hit the trust and credibility meme.

9:21 - Now he's going senatorial ... "I will have a [blah blah blah]" ... that style may work in the Senate, but it sounds like a haughty lecture. He learned nothing from Obama or even Edwards. He's not talking with people, or even to people, but at people ...

9:23 - A bit better now, especially when he talked about the 90's and balancing the budget. Oh, and for all of you conspiracy theorists, Kerry just accepted the nomination, so no fake-out for bigger bucks forthcoming ...

9:25 - "This son of a millworker is ready to succeed" ... as opposed to "That son of a bitch knocked me down." Well, he's nuanced ...

9:28 - Not bad, really, so far. Long on theme, short on anything specific, other than the reflexive Bush hatred. Now he's evoking 9/11, something that his party will scream at when Bush does it...

9:29 - He wishes that there were no Democrats and Republicans? Fighting a war on the cheap?? This, from the guy who voted against the funding for the troops? Oh, please. Take two steps backwards...

9:30 - "We only go to war because we have to." After twelve years of failed containment, I suppose this means Kerry would have waited until the sanctions utterly collapsed, Saddam re-armed, and actually did catastrophic damage before doing anything about him ...

9:33 - "Conduct terrorist operations ... er, anti-terrorist operations." Paging Dr. Freud to lingerie ...

9:35 - "Strength is more than just tough words." Something we learned the hard way while we tried to ignore the terrorist attacks on American assets all during the 1990s, mostly with the foreign-policy team Kerry uses for his campaign ...

9:36 - Sounds like Kerry has a good plan for homeland security. Too bad he wasn't in the Senate where he could have introduced legislation to push that plan ahead. Oh, wait ...

9:40 - Enron made its way into Kerry's speech, followed by drug companies.

9:42 - "Help is on the way" - now it's help? Last night it was "hope." No wonder they have trouble staying on message.

9:44 - He's getting better at his delivery as he goes along. He's talking a bit faster, but still mostly delivers in a stentorian monotone...

9:50 - Wow, we're going to fit all the moonbat theories in tonight, throwing in the Saudi royal family. Once again, great, let's not rely on them. Why did you oppose broader drilling in the US, then?

9:52 - Kerry's got a nerve -- implying that Bush sells out to the Saudis and then, one minute later, urging him to take the high road! Now he talks about eliminating division! You gotta be kidding me!

9:54 - And now he makes a point of saying that he doesn't wear his religion on his sleeve. Way to be a uniter and keep that positive message going, pal. Bush hatred keeps him going and going and going ...

9:57 - Wound up his speech by getting wound up. Obviously the crowd loved it; he pretty much fed them the red meat they wanted and managed to get shots in at Bush despite the Kerry/Edwards insistence on maintaining a positive tone. Most of where Kerry defined himself relied on comparing himself to Bush, a sure sign that Kerry fears his ideas only stand up in opposition, not in leadership.

So endeth the convention. It remains to be seen whether Kerry did anything except excite the base with the four days that made up his fourth introduction to the US. I predict that in seven days, he'll still be tracking even at best with Bush.

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» Kerry Speech in One Word: Delusional from InTheBullpen.com
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