Best Democratic Convention Speech

[MikeG]

[jburton]

1. Barbara Jordan 1976

nt

[MaineDem]

ABSOLUTELY!!!

I couldn't remember which year. Thank you.

[TahitiNut]

29. Yup. Barbara edges out Mario, imho.

[happyslug]

2. Where Byran's "Cross of Gold Speech"?

Most commentators says it is the BEST CONVENTION SPEECH EVER. How can you beat his Cross of Gold Speech. I Know it is 1896 but that is when Conventions were conventions and who their would nominate was up in the Air till the day of nomination. Since the 1950s Conventions have Not had to select the party's Candidate, that is decided months before in the Primaries, so the speeches are for the upcoming campaign NOT to rally support for one's own nomination (which was the purpose of Bryan's Speech):

"Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests, and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."

For the WHOLE Speech:
http://www.kancoll.org/articles/speeches/bryan.htm

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. Actually Ted Kennedy's 1980 Speech Was Compared To The Cross Of Gold

Speech...

[MikeG]

8. I've only watched the conventions since 1968.

Or I would have included Truman's in 1948.

[Doomsayer13]

3. Hubert Humphry's "Human Beings" speech

an act of bravery that is nearly unparrelled

[elperromagico]

15. Very good choice.

That speech, and the civil rights plank in the Democratic platform which resulted from it, probably helped Truman win the election in 1948. Great speech.

[havocmom]

4. For sheer fun, Ann RIchards' 'Poor George' from 92.

For integrity and inspiration, I'll go with Barbara Jordan too.

[2bfree]

24. I love Ann!

What a great speech! I hope we have some inspiring speeches to look forward to this week.

[proud patriot]

5. I picked Jesse Jackson because it was the first DemConvention

I paid attention to and I had Voted for Jesse in
the Primaries .

[MikeG]

7. Remember him saying "I'm Qualified" about 20 times.

And the line "You don't know the me that makes me me."

[K-W]

9. Can people post links to the speeches?

might be some good reading for those of us who havent read these or heard them yet

[wyldwolf]

10. shoot me but Zell Miller gave on hell of a speech in '92

.. you know, before he turned to the dark side.

[MikeG]

12. He's now an unperson.

Any further mention of him will get you sent to Room 101.

This is your final warning.

[wyldwolf]

13. Is that where the electro-shock therapy happens?

But ya' gotta admit - one HELL of a speech.

[MikeG]

16. That and the dog leash.

[wyldwolf]

18. GASP! Is Lindy there? Or is it Cameron Diaz?

[MikeG]

20. If it was Cameron Diaz I'd be committing thoughtcrime right now.

[Carolina]

32. you're so right

It was give 'em hell Zell. And he did. His words about repukes and George HW Bush were great and even more applicable today.

What happened? He really drank the GOP koolaid. Go figure.

[WoodrowFan]

11. Cross of Gold, 1896....

....We say to you that you have made the definition of a business man too limited in its application. The man who is employed for wages is as much a business man as his employer; the attorney in a country town is as much a business man as the corporation counsel in a great metropolis; the merchant at the cross-roads store is as much a business man as the merchant of New York; the farmer who goes forth in the morning and toils all day, who begins in spring and toils all summer, and who by the application of brain and muscle to the natural resources of the country creates wealth, is as much a business man as the man who goes upon the Board of Trade and bets upon the price of grain; the miners who go down a thousand feet into the earth, or climb two thousand feet upon the cliffs, and bring forth from their hiding places the precious metals to be poured into the channels of trade are as much businessmen as the few financial magnates who, in a back room, corner the money of the world. We come to speak of this broader class of business men.

.....

Mr. Carlisle said in 1878 that this was a struggle between "the idle holders of idle capital" and "the struggling masses, who produce the wealth and pay the taxes of the country"; and, my friends, the question we are to decide is: Upon which side will the Democratic party fight; upon the side of "the idle holders of idle capital" or upon the side of "the struggling masses"? That is the question which the party must answer first, and then it must be answered by each individual hereafter. The sympathies of the Democratic party, as shown by the platform, are on the side of the struggling masses who have ever been the foundation of the Democratic party. There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea, however, has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them.
....

Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.


http://douglassarchives.org/brya_a26.htm

[MikeG]

14. A good speech, but don't forget the Scopes monkey trial.

Darrow ate him for lunch.

[happyslug]

21. Bryan WON the case...

When it came down to the case at hand, Bryan prevailed (Through the Author of the Bill banning the teaching of Evolution attended the hearings AND SAID THE BEST SPEECH HE EVER HEARD WAS THE ONE GIVEN AT THE TRIAL REGARDING EVOLUTION, it was done by a Co-attorney of Darrow NOT Darrow).

Do NOT confuse the movie "Inherit the Wind" with the actual Trial. People do. While the Scopes Monkey Trial was a MADE UP CASE, where Scopes was told to teach evolution, got busted so that the town could have a Show trial on the issue of Evolution. The town hoped the trial would drum up business (and it did, even to this day). Scope's "Conviction" was over turned on Appeal for the Judge had imposed the sentence NOT the Jury (As was required under the statute) and the Conviction was reversed (This appears to have been deliberate as part of the deal with Scopes to have the trial in the first place, an invalid conclusion to an invalid trial, but a trial over the the power of the state to set what should be taught in the Public Schools).

The town thought of everything, Recruiting Darrow and Bryan to be the advocates. The Town's greatest error was leaving their own JudgePeace do the Judge work. The Judge's control of the case and the attorneys was weak as was his absolute following of the Rules of Court. This can be seen when Darrow refused to give a summation to the jury and thus prevented Bryan from giving one for that was the Rule of Law in Tennessee at that time. Given that the Sentence was Invalid under the same Rule, The Judge could have ruled Bryan could have make his speech on the grounds Darrow had done so in his direct examination of Bryan. The Judge did not and it is the weakness of the trial. This weakness is reflected in that the Jury and the Town people thought it robbed Bryan of an opportunity to present his side of the issue. It is remarkable that that Rural Southern Town WANTED TO HEAR BOTH SIDES OF THE ISSUE and were willing to give both sides an opportunity to present it.

Please remember the issue was NOT evolution, but could the State order it NOT be taught in Public Schools? Given what happened on Appeal, that issue was NEVER addressed till the 1960s (When it was ruled that teaching creationism was religion and thus could not be taught in Public Schools).

I bring this up to show you that Darrow DID NOT beat Bryan, Bryan won the conviction for the JURY which heard the evidence ruled in Bryan's favor on the issue in front of the Court. The case was to be heard by those 12 members of the Jury and those 12 members voted with Bryan not Darrow.

One last comment, one of the reason we have such a bad view of Bryan and the Scopes monkey trial is H.L. Mencken's Account of the Trial. Mencken hated Bryan and Fundamentalists (He also hated Jews but that is beside the point). His articles on the Trial was treated as Gospel by the Newspaper chains and have colored our view of this case and of Bryan's participation in the case.

For more details see:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/scopes.htm

[MikeG]

22. I stand corrected.

[happyslug]

17. Some transcripts:

1996 Democratic Convention Floor Speeches:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/convention96/floor_speeches/

Jessie Jackson 1988 and 1984 Speeches:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/jesse/speeches/

Barbara Jordan’s 1976 Speech:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barbarajordandnckeynote.html

Al Gore’s Acceptance Speech during the 2000 Convention:
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/conventions/democratic/transcripts/gore.html

Ann Richard’s 1988 Speech:
http://www.education-india.net/inspirationals/richards1988.php

Ted Kennedy’s 1980 Speech:
http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/archive/speech_154.html

Mario Cuomo’s 1984 Speech:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/cuomo1984dnc.htm

Bill Clinton’s Speeches (Not -1992 Convention Speech):
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/bc42/bc42.htm


Original copy of Truman’s 1948 Convention Speech (Truman’s did not pre-write his speeches thus what he was reading and what he was saying could be and were often two different things, but his points were always the same):

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/1948campaign/large/docs/speeches/cam88-1.htm

The Actual Speech.
http://www.geocities.com/rickmatlick/nomatruman48.htm

[happyslug]

27. I found a text the 1992 Demoractic Convention Speeches:

I found it over an hour after the above, but the 1992 Speeches and Willie Brown's 1972 Speech I am finding hard to find (at least on a cite that does not require paying fees):

Clinton's 1992 Acceptance Speech:
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/speeches/demo-conv/bclinton.txt

List of Speeches in the 1992 Democratic Convention (Even Zell Miller's Speech is in the list along with Jimmy Carter's of 1992):
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/speeches/demo-conv/

A list of Democratic Speeches (Going back to 1801):
http://home.att.net/~howingtons/demospeech.html

Cite for list of Acceptance Speeches since 1960:
http://www.4president.org/democrats.htm

[Bluebear]

19. Ann Richards!! Poor George, he can't help it!

He was born with a silver shoe in his mouth. 1988 keynote address.

[ThomWV]

23. Cuomo's Speach, The Keynote at The Convention

Was the most stiring speach I had ever heard in my life up to that time and it is what caused me to become a lifelong Democrat.

Let me rephrase that. Up until that speach I was a noncommital Democrat. The speach tipped me towards an interest in Politics and a feeling that it really did matter. I had voted Democratic in each election since '68 but it was like a cow eating grass. I had no idea what I was really doing - it was just dumb luck what I was doing the right thing before Cuomo.

[gottaB]

25. John Kennedy

http://www.cs.umb.edu/jfklibrary/j071560.htm

[Merlin]

26. Acceptance speech 1960. "Give me your hands and your hearts...

...and your voice!"

Still remember it. An electric moment.

[salonghorn70]

28. The Greatness of Kennedy

It has been a long road from that first snowy day in New Hampshire to this crowded convention city. Now begins another long journey, taking me into your cities and homes all over America. Give me your help, your hand, your voice, your vote. Recall with me the words of Isaiah: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary."

As we face the coming challenge, we too, shall wait upon the Lord, and ask that he renew our strength. Then shall we be equal to the test. Then we shall not be weary. And then we shall prevail.


I was 12 years old when Kennedy was nominated. I don't believe that I have ever read rhis speech before today. His ability to inspire an challenge is where is greatness lies.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

30. The Cause Endures , The Hope Lives On, And The Dream Shall Never Die"

JFK's 1960 speech, RFK's 1964 speech should have been included in this poll....

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

31. Abe Ribicoff's speech to Mayor Daley.

Who can forget Daley flipping Ribicoff the bird and having apoplexy.