Kerry's day

8:50 pm Central
Kerry's lieutenant is talking - he's saying "band of brothers" a lot. Now he's introduced Max Cleland. I don't really know who he is, either, except that I've heard the name. (He's from Georgia - a senator, maybe?) Everybody is waving signs, although they don't seem to be all the same tonight. One section has signs that say "Max" and then there are a lot of Kerry-Edwards signs and some of those tall white ones that just say "Kerry" and there are a lot of American flags.

"Even before I knew John Kerry, he was my brother."

9:05 - Finally, Kerry. He's coming through the crowd, although he's got a pretty heavy phalanx of Secret Service around him. He looks happy. (If he's always wanted to be president, I guess he ought to be, shouldn't he?) Now the tall white Kerry signs are everywhere. They're playing Springsteen - "No Surrender", I think.

I don't type fast enough to transcribe large blocks of text, but I'll try to get some snippets, at least. Right now he's just saying "Thank you" over and over, because people won't stop yelling.

I'm John Kerry and I'm reporting for duty.

(we are) united in one purpose: to make America strong again and respected in the world.

I am home.

I'm not kidding - I was born in the west wing. (smiling)

I rode my bike into Soviet East Berlin, and when I proudly told him what I'd done, he promptly grounded me.

(On the 60s) We believed we could change the world, and you know what? We did.

As president, I will restore trust and credibility to the White House.

...I will appoint an Attorney General who will uphold the Constitution of the United States.

...the unity to move America forward.

(On 9/11) It was the worst day we have ever seen, but it brought out the best in all of us.

Now I know there are those who criticize me for seeing complexities... proclaiming "Mission accomplished" certainly doesn't make it so.

He's talking about the military - adding troops, bringing others home, dealing with them honestly.

As president, I will fight a smarter, more effective war on terror.

We need to make American once again a beacon in the world...

The future doesn't belong to fear, it belongs to freedom.

Before wrapping themselves in the flag and shutting their eyes and their ears, they should remember...that is not a challenge to patriotism, that is the heart and soul of patriotism.

That flag doesn't belong to any president, it doesn't belong to any party... it belongs to the American people.

...values spoken without actions taken are just slogans.

It's time for those who talk about family values to start valuing families.

America can do better, and tonight we say, help is on the way.

Now there are signs that say "Help is on the way."

Where is the conscience of our country? ...it's alive in the people that I've met in every single part of this land.

Your family's healthcare is just as important as any politician in Washington DC...

...maybe some only see us divided into those red states and blue states, but I see us as one America: red, white and blue.

America is not us and them.

It is time to reach for the next dream, it is time to reach for the next horizon...

He really does have a huge chin, doesn't he?

Now, wild applause, U2's "Beautiful Day" and Edwards is on the podium with Kerry.

You can hear some guy yelling about balloons and confetti - "more balloons, no confetti yet" - somehow I don't think his audio is supposed to be on. I just switched to CBS (from CNN) and they don't have the balloon audio, their analysts are talking away, of course. They're saying that Kerry was more in attack mode than they expected.

"...as colorful as a Verdi opera" says Rather, talking about the scene inside Fleet Center. Hee.

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More on Obama, from The Note:

USA Today 's Richard Benedetto reports, "Obama's book had ranked 676th on the Barnes & Noble.com list on Tuesday afternoon [sic], but jumped to No. 59 by the next morning, boosted by preorders for a paperback edition with a new preface by Obama that is being rushed to bookstores by Aug. 10."

Really only tangentially related to the convention:
Deconstructing Coulter

(found via Francis)

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Five Things Wrong With The 9/11 Report