Stop it. Just stop.
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Leading Democrats make the case for their friend
Posted 7/29/2004 10:59 PM Updated 7/30/2004 12:30 AM
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-07-29-dems-kerry_x.htm
By Bill Nichols, USA TODAY
BOSTON — Democrats brought the curtain down on their national convention Thursday with a roster of speakers who underlined the theme they have been emphasizing for four days: John Kerry is a war hero who is tough enough to be president of the USA.
Democrats brought the curtain down on their national convention Thursday with a roster of speakers who underlined the theme they have been emphasizing for four days: John Kerry is a war hero who is tough enough to be president of the USA.From
former Georgia senator Max Cleland, whose legs were blown away by a grenade in Vietnam in 1968, to Kerry's own Vietnam-era swift boat comrades, the emphasis was on supporting Kerry's acceptance speech with personal testimonies to the nominee's courage and resilience.
"The Bible tells me that no greater love has a man than to lay down his life for his friends," Cleland said in remarks prepared for delivery. "John Kerry's fellow crewmates ... are living testimony to his leadership, his courage under fire, and his willingness to risk his life for his fellow Americans. "Ladies and gentlemen, there is no greater act of patriotism than that."
Former Special Forces officer Jim Rassmann told delegates how Kerry saved his life in the Mekong Delta in 1969.
Leading Democratic voices on national security and foreign policy took to the podium to argue that Kerry has the judgment and seasoning to use force when necessary but to also wage a worldwide war of ideas against the anti-American nihilism of radical Islamic terrorism. Thursday's rhetoric also seemed to ease some of the Kerry campaign's constraints about directly criticizing the Bush administration.
• "I do not question the motives of this administration. But I profoundly disagree with their judgments," said Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden, the senior Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. "Today, we are rightly confident in the example of our power. But we have forgotten the power of our example."
• Retired general Wesley Clark, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nod, sharply criticized GOP rhetoric questioning the ability of Democrats to defend the country after 9/11.
"This soldier has news for you tonight: Anyone who tells you that one political party has a monopoly on the best defense of our nation is committing a fraud," Clark said. "This hall, this Democratic Party are filled with veterans who have served under this flag. ... We've seen brave men and women buried under that flag. That flag is ours! And nobody, nobody will take it away from us."
• Said Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, the senior Democrat on the Armed Services Committee: "As commander in chief, John Kerry will relentlessly pursue terrorists wherever they operate. But if there is no imminent threat to our nation, John Kerry will never send America's sons and daughters to fight die in unilaterally declared wars."
Before the night's major speeches began, the convention officially nominated North Carolina Sen. John Edwards to be the party's vice presidential candidate. In a pre-designed move, the North Carolina delegation requested that Edwards be nominated by acclimation, without the normal roll call. No dissenting voice was heard.
Democrats wrapped up their convention united in their belief that this year's election is one of the most important in recent memory.
"Tonight the spirit of history is upon all of us," said Georgia Rep. John Lewis, a veteran of the civil rights movement. "And the spirit of history sees a great nation, a proud people cast in shadow, the shadow of a man, a president, who had divided a nation against itself and turned the world away from a friend."