Carnival of Losers

Conventions, in this age where nominations are decided long beforehand, are supposed to be events which unite the party as well as show the undecided voters why it is that they should vote for that party. Undoubtedly, this year the Democratic Party is united - primarily, however, in its hatred of Bush rather than in any real issues. The way that the party is showing itself to undecideds, however, seems to be problematic. Jonathan Last points out that in a time when one of the man concerns is terrorism, and many voters see a need for a "strong America", the democrats come up with speakers who are decidedly not the best examples of these ideas.

JOHN KERRY and John Edwards want to bring you a stronger America. It says so on their signs and the slogan flickers across the thin, ticker-tape video screens that ring the Fleet Center, repeating over and over and over. To that end, they've decided to open their convention with the two biggest losers in the recent history of the Democratic party: Al Gore and Jimmy Carter.
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Towards the end of his remarks, President Carter asks the delegates to repudiate "extremism" and worried about "extremist doctrines" which are pulling America into dangerous waters. I'm assuming he was talking about Bush, but you never know. After his speech, Jimmy Carter repaired to small box behind my workstation. There, the former president of the United States and his wife, Rosalynn, sat down next to Michael Moore.