"I don't want to claim that God is on our side."

[Brotherjohn]

"As Abraham Lincoln told us, I want to pray humbly that we are on God's side."

I'm sorry, but THAT's got to sting. I think that one line will win back millions of Christians (at least the ones who aren't completely brainwashed fundies). It completely defines Bush's arrogance, false humility, divisiveness, and his shameless use of religion as a political football. In short, it defines just how UN-Christian he is.

The other clincher line is:
"as President, I will bring back this nation's time-honored tradition: the United States of America never goes to war because we want to, we only go to war because we have to."

That, also, in so few words, says so much about the Bush presidency and the stakes of this election.

Millions of undecided voters will be swayed on the basis of these two lines alone.

[sundog]

1. I agree, it was a great contrast of *arrogance vs. spiritual humility

Though not particularly religious myself, I thought it was a smart, strong, important statement.

[Jo March]

2. I got goosebumps when he said that

I started yelling, "Yes! He is so right!" I love that quote. It is one of my favorites by Abe.

What Christian can argue with that quote? What real Christian can even argue with that!

He scored with that one.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

3. Yeah, it really does

The only problem is the people who buy into that bullshit are too far gone to listen to that kind of reasoning. They're theocrats - they are exegisizing religion as an excuse to seize power.

[Anaxamander]

4. Thank God Kerry said what he did

I was truly moved, and I'm an atheist!

[RoyGBiv]

5. Isn't it nice...

Isn't it nice to have someone smart and eloquent to lead us? :-)

Not everyone can pull off a Lincoln quote. I've seen many try and almost as many fail. Often, they fail because they don't get it, don't understand exactly what Lincoln was trying to say. At other times, they may get it, but their tongue and their brain don't communicate very well.

I hope I'm not being too melodramatic here in saying that I've seen something Lincoln-esque in Kerry since he first surged onto the national scene. Part of it is simply how he looks. Another part, the bigger part, is who he is: a cagey politician who knows how to work a crowd better than his opponents give him credit, an extremely intelligent individual who comes off as sort of folksy when he wants to, and someone who pleases neither radicals nor conservatives completely but can draw some level of support from both.

Last night, I felt more confident in this perception. Those words flowed out of his mouth with ease, and it was obvious he understood precisely what those words meant. This will be a tight campaign in which the country will be sharply divided, but I am confident we have chosen the right man to appeal to the better angels of our nature.