The Case To Keep His Job

The Democratic National Convention is over, and Bon and I will be covering the highlights on the podcast today (hopefully).  The third and final day was filled with some pretty good speeches, but they all got underway when former Rep. Gabby Giffords brought the house down with something as simple as the Pledge of Allegiance.



Later on, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, now host of her own show on Current TV, delivered a passionate attack on fellow Michigander Mitt Romney.



(More speeches below the jump...)



Sen. John Kerry unloaded on Mitt Romney as well, poking wry fun as he turned the "flip-flopper" and "for it before he was against it" attacks leveled against himself 8 years ago on the Republican nominee in 2012.

“It isn’t fair to say Mitt Romney doesn’t have a position on Afghanistan,” Kerry said. “He has every position.”

Discussing the Libyan intervention, Kerry said Romney had adopted several conflicting opinions, an indication that he’d be a weak leader on foreign policy.

“Talk about being for it before you were against it,” Kerry said, a reference to the line Kerry himself infamously used to describe his record on the Iraq War. “Mr. Romney, here’s a little advice: Before you debate Barack Obama on foreign policy, you better finish the debate with yourself.”

Even on more benign foreign policy duties, Kerry said Romney was not fit to lead. Citing Romney’s widely-panned overseas trip, in which the Republican presidential nominee drew criticism from local leaders in Britain and elsewhere, Kerry said Romney did not know how to represent America well.

“For Mitt Romney, an overseas trip is what you call it when you trip all over yourself overseas. It wasn’t a goodwill mission—it was a blooper reel,” he said.

That led to Vice-President Joe Biden, who praised the tough choices and hard road the President dealt with over the last four years.

Day after day, night after night, I sat beside him, as he made one gutsy decision after another—to stop the slide and reverse it.  I watched him stand up to intense pressure  and stare down choices of enormous consequence. Most of all, I saw what drove him: His profound concern for the American people.

He knew, that no matter how tough the decisions he had to make in the Oval Office were, families all over America had to make decisions every bit as tough for them—as they sat around their kitchen tables.  Barack and I have been through a lot together.  And we’ve learned a lot about each other. I learned of the enormity of his heart.  And he learned of the depth of my loyalty. And there was another thing that bound us.  We both had a pretty good idea what these families were going through—in part because our own families had gone through similar struggles.

Barack had to sit at the end of his mom's hospital bed and watch her fight cancer and fight her insurance companies at the same time.  I was a kid, but I can remember the day that my dad sat at the end of my bed, and said, things are going to be tough for a while.   I have to go to Delaware to get a new job.   But it's going to be better for us.  The rest of my life, my dad never failed to remind me—that a job is about a lot more than a paycheck.  It’s about dignity.  It’s about respect.  It’s about being able to look your children in the eye—and say honey, it’s going to be okay, and believe it was going to be okay.  When Barack and I were growing up, there was an implicit understanding.  If you took responsibility, you’d get a fair shot at a better deal.  The values behind that deal—were the values that shaped us both. And today, they are Barack’s guiding star.

And finally, it all closed with President Obama doing what he does best:  making the pitch and asking for the sale.

Describing himself as “mindful of my own failings,” Mr. Obama conceded the country’s continuing difficulties while defending his record and pleading for more time to carry out his agenda. He laid out a long-term blueprint for revival in an era obsessed with short-term expectations. 

“I won’t pretend the path I’m offering is quick or easy; I never have,” Mr. Obama told a packed arena of 20,000 party leaders and activists. “You didn’t elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. You elected me to tell you the truth. And the truth is, it will take more than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades.” 

He added: “But know this, America: Our problems can be solved. Our challenges can be met. The path we offer may be harder, but it leads to a better place. And I’m asking you to choose that future.” 

I think he made the case last night, especially compared to the Republicans last week.  But some 100 million plus Americans will get the chance to weigh in on that notion as we decide in two months.

And with the close of the convention, the ad blitz is now on in full.  Here we go, America.