2004 Democratic National Convention

The 2004 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention that took place from July 26 to July 29, 2004 at the TD Banknorth Garden, then called FleetCenter, in Boston, Massachusetts. The convention was one of a series of historic quadrennial meetings of the Democratic Party with a primary focus on officially nominating a candidate for President and adopting a party platform. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson served as chairman while former presidential advisor to Bill Clinton, Lottie Shackelford, served as vice chairman.

Kerry's address

The suspense over Senator Kerry's arrival was built up by his daughters' eloquent testimonials about growing up with Kerry as their father. Their speeches were followed by a short video of selected highlights of Kerry's life: his birth in Colorado, his childhood in New England, the travels with his diplomat father to post-World War II Germany, and his heroism in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, interspersed with clips of Kerry speaking and narrated voiceovers. After the video's conclusion, and with Kerry's navy crewmates standing across the stage, former U.S. Senator Max Cleland delivered a speech proclaiming that the global conflict and active wars in Afghanistan and Iraq required a decorated military hero such as Kerry in the White House. Kerry then entered from the back of the hall, greeting delegates and shaking hands as he moved to the front. To cheers and applause, Kerry gave a military salute and deadpanned, "I'm John Kerry, and I'm reporting for duty." After a brief, impassioned introduction of himself, Kerry formally addressed the delegates: "With great faith in the American people, I accept your nomination for President of the United States."

Related Topics:
Colorado - New England - Diplomat - World War II - Germany - Vietnam - Mekong Delta - Max Cleland - Afghanistan - Iraq - White House - Military salute - President of the United States

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Kerry's acceptance address was widely compared by media pundits to the progressive-era speeches of President Theodore Roosevelt, who advocated the social welfare programs characteristic of American liberalism, but also supported strengthening American military power and nationalistic patriotism. The speech, analysts added, attempted to portray the Democratic Party as masculine, even macho — much like the Republicans have historically presented themselves. Kerry stressed his qualities as a warrior and his ability to wage war when needed, a need to expand and modernize the armed forces, and a need to increase the size of special forces divisions. Alluding to the Bush administration's having fired Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki for demanding a peacekeeping plan before going to war in Iraq, Kerry also stressed the need to heed the counsel of generals.

Related Topics:
Pundit - Progressive - Theodore Roosevelt - Welfare - Liberalism - American military power - Patriotism - Macho - Special forces - Army Chief of Staff - Eric Shinseki - General

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Media analysts also characterized Kerry's speech as closer in style to a sitting president's State of the Union Address than those historically given by candidates at nominating conventions. Kerry listed specific proposals for programs and legislation, and offered a way to pay for them. He promised to train 40,000 new active duty troops, to quickly implement all the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, to cut the national deficit in half within four years, to cut middle class taxes while repealing the Bush administration's tax cuts for those making more than $200,000 per year, to stop privatization of Social Security, and to embrace science over religious dogma, especially with regards to stem cell research, which the Bush administration has constrained. He issued a promise to improve homeland security measures and quality of living: "We shouldn't be opening firehouses in Baghdad and closing them down in the United States of America." Although Kerry clarified the broad tenets of the Democratic platform, some liberals criticized the party's evasion of abortion rights and gay rights, while others found Kerry's plans too vague. On the whole, however, the address was well-received, and pundits found that Kerry's forceful delivery had made the normally dour candidate more appealing.

Related Topics:
State of the Union Address - 9/11 Commission - Middle class - Tax - $ - Privatization - Social Security - Science - Stem cell research - Baghdad - Platform - Abortion rights - Gay rights - Delivery

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On the day after Kerry's speech, George W. Bush's reelection campaign launched a counterattack on the claims and promises made by Kerry and others at the convention. At a campaign stop in Springfield, Missouri, Bush told a crowd: "My opponent has good intentions, but intentions do not always translate to results." He went on to attack Kerry's Senate record: "We heard a lot of clever speeches and some big promises. After 19 years in the United States Senate my opponent has had thousands of votes but very few signature achievements." White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan added to the criticism, saying, "I think the senator from Massachusetts is a walking contradiction." Democrats generally took umbrage at Republican attacks. A Pennsylvania delegate who voted for Kerry,State Rep. Mark B. Cohen of Philadelphia, said "Kerry's lifelong habits of courage, conviction, and responsibility comprise the strongest possible refutation of false Republican stereotyping."

Related Topics:
George W. Bush - Springfield, Missouri - White House Press Secretary - Scott McClellan

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Quotes

• "In these dangerous days there is a right way and a wrong way to be strong. Strength is more than tough words. After decades of experience in national security, I know the reach of our power and I know the power of our ideals. We need to make America once again a beacon in the world. We need to be looked up to and not just feared." —John Kerry
• "Here at home, wages are falling, health care costs are rising, and our great middle class is shrinking. People are working weekends; they're working two jobs, three jobs, and they're still not getting ahead. We're told that outsourcing jobs is good for America. We're told that new jobs that pay $9,000 less than the jobs that have been lost is the best we can do. They say this is the best economy we've ever had. And they say that anyone who thinks otherwise is a pessimist. Well, here is our answer: There is nothing more pessimistic than saying America can't do better. We can do better and we will. We're the optimists. For us, this is a country of the future. We're the can do people." —John Kerry
• "I fought under that flag, as did so many of you here and all across our country. That flag flew from the gun turret right behind my head. It was shot through and through and tattered, but it never ceased to wave in the wind. It draped the caskets of men I served with and friends I grew up with. For us, that flag is the most powerful symbol of who we are and what we believe in. Our strength. Our diversity. Our love of country. All that makes America both great and good. That flag doesn't belong to any president. It doesn't belong to any ideology and it doesn't belong to any political party. It belongs to all the American people." —John Kerry
• "I want to address these next words directly to President George W. Bush. In the weeks ahead, let's be optimists, not just opponents. Let's build unity in the American family, not angry division. Let's honor this nation's diversity. Let's respect one another. And let's never misuse for political purposes the most precious document in American history, the Constitution of the United States." —John Kerry
• "I think of what Ron Reagan said of his father a few weeks ago, and I want to say this to you tonight: I don't wear my religion on my sleeve, but faith has given me values and hope to live by, from Vietnam to this day, from Sunday to Sunday. I don't want to claim that God is on our side. As Abraham Lincoln told us, I want to pray humbly that we are on God's side." —John Kerry
• "Now, I know there that are those who criticize me for seeing complexities — and I do — because some issues just aren't all that simple. Saying there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq doesn't make it so. Saying we can fight a war on the cheap doesn't make it so. And proclaiming "Mission accomplished" certainly doesn't make it so. As president, I will ask the hard questions and demand hard evidence. I will immediately reform the intelligence system, so policy is guided by facts and facts are never distorted by politics. And 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 is the standard of our nation." —John Kerry
• What does it mean in America today when Dave McCune, a steelworker that I met in Canton, Ohio, saw his job sent overseas and the equipment in his factory was literally unbolted, crated up and shipped thousands of miles away, along with that job? What does it mean when workers I've met have had to train their foreign replacements? America can do better. And tonight we say: Help is on the way." —John Kerry