Did any primary freaks notice Kerry's borrowing from Edwards?

[jpgray]

That Lincoln quote was from one of the debates in late February, where it was down to Kucinich, Sharpton, Kerry and Edwards. Some media airhead asked the inane question:

"Really quick, is God on America's side?"

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/02/24/politics/main601980.shtml

BUMILLER: Senator?

EDWARDS: Well, there's a wonderful story about Abraham Lincoln during the middle of the Civil War bringing in a group of leaders, and at the end of the meeting one of the leaders said, "Mr. President, can we pray, can we please join in prayer that God is on our side?" And Abraham Lincoln's response was, "I won't join you in that prayer, but I'll join you in a prayer that we're on God's side."

[southernleftylady]

1. its a good line.. i hope all lefties start using it! :) n/t

[NewHampshireDem]

6. "Lefties"?

Are you for real? I mean, seriously?

[Kolesar]

2. and borrowing from Joe Trippi

I remember that scene from the CNN documentary of the Dean campaign where Joe Trippi says "He's stealing my stump speech!".

[JI7]

3. Kerry used it shortly after he named Edwards as vp (before convention)

also. it was a great answer to the religious questions, especially for kerry who doesn't want to talk about it much. i remember at the debate he answered in a way that came off in a way that republicans accused him of saying god was not on our side just because he said he doesn't like the way bush talks about god and how bush claims god is on our side. in massachusettes it's ok to say that, but not in some other states he will need to win in november. i bet he thought then how great edwards answer was.

of course one of the reasons he got edwards for vp was to help him get support from people who see kerry as too culturally liberal or different from them.

[jpgray]

7. I was surprised to encounter it in the acceptance speech (nt)

[JI7]

10. i think he wanted to get the message out there

because he knows it's one of the biggest attacks the right wing uses against him and this was his one chance to have a large audience that was paying attention to him and who later may never hear an entire speech from him until election day.

and the line is really good . i watched part of his speech on abc and when he said lincoln they showed side by side views of kerry giving his speech and the lincoln memorial. it was great how peter jennings did that. and anytime kerry mentioned something to do with terrorism or the middle east they would show show live video of some arab sattelite stations showing his speech. it would have been great to let peter jennings cover more of the convention on abc.

[slor]

4. It is a great quote...

and I am glad Kerry used it. That "moran" chimpy-chimp can only dream about pulling a line off like that. He probably skipped history in school anyway. Remember his mention of our long-standing alliance with Japan, even during World War II?

[Ripley]

5. He "borrowed" a hell of a lot from Dean too.

Mr. Ripley actually pointed it out and he doesn't even pay attention to politics that much....and I said "you're right, that was in Dean's stump speech."

[jpgray]

8. There was a lot of great stuff in Dean's stump (nt)

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

23. Yep

I was just about to say, I heard a hell of a lot of Dean echoes in that speech, but that was just fine with me, as I was a Deaniac. Actually it made me smile a lot!

[GiovanniC]

9. He Borrowed From Clark, Also

And probably some of his other primary opponents. I think it's great. I think he should assimilate the best lines and policies from his ten opponents. We had ten really, really good Democrats up there running for the nomination, and if you put all ten of them together you get some Voltron action going on -- unstoppable.

I'm waiting for a speech where Kerry says, "We're gonna ride this donkey into the White House!"

That would be cool.

[Ripley]

15. Hahahahah!!!!

There is no way on Earth Kerry would use that line! It would be FABULOUS if he did...it would show he has a sense of humor and can lighten up! But he never will.

[GiovanniC]

16. I Know

But a guy can wish.

[KC21304]

11. I don't think Lincoln minds that they both used it.

[Skidmore]

12. Says to me that he and Edwards are probably

working TOGETHER--what a novel concept. I also believe that he and all his opponents in the primaries have been communicating and there has been concensus. This is a shared effort. I applaud that.

[lostnfound]

21. I applaud it too & hope that it carries through the next 8 years. nt

[LWolf]

13. I noticed a ton of "borrowing."

And not just in last night's speech. Starting with Kucinich. Just one example of many: Dennis' slogan, "Fear ends, Hope begins." It wasn't repeated word for word, but the theme was ever present throughout the convention. So was the idea of interconnectedness, which you can find in Dennis' speeches from a year and two years ago. I can remember one of those speeches being denigrated by a DUer at the time, suggesting that he was some sort of new-age <insert ridicule>. This week that word was used by more than one person, irc.

Instead of "borrowing," I'd like to call it "integrating." It seems that Kerry has integrated many of the positives from democratic primary candidates into his own campaign. That's good, and that's how it should be. It's the democratic process at work, melding those things we campaigned for in the primaries together into a whole. I noticed many, many more examples. Sometimes it was just the change or addition of one word. I was encouraged.

That's the sign that Kerry has listened. Not that I wouldn't love him to come out and say something like, "As ______________ told us in the primary, ____________________." LOL. It's not going to happen. The Kerry show is going to be all about Kerry, as far as candidates go, and that too is how it is supposed to be. But when you see your primary pick's ideas and words show up, that means that you did your job. The support for the issue was noted, and integrated.

I supported my candidate all the way to the convention; he stayed the primary course and did the work for us all the way there. And it was fruitful. No, his ideas were not adopted directly into the platform. But many are there in the people at the convention, in the speakers, and in what our next president had to say to us.

Just as I said, over and over again, and just as my candidate did as well, I'm glad to throw my support to John Kerry this morning.

[JohnKleeb]

18. I noticed that too

He admitted too that he appreciated all the candiates from the primary and what they taught him, some have said Kerry is an arrogant guy, but Ive never seen that, Ive seen a guy who appreciates Americans of all backgrounds.

[eridani]

22. "Health care is a right" from Kucinich and Braun

Teresa (not in this week's speech, but a few weeks ago) stole a nearly direct quote from Dennis as well-- "We are already paying for medicine--we just aren't getting it."

Steal more, please! I love it!

[JohnKleeb]

24. Teresa and Dennis are pals

not sure about Dennis and John but John respects Dennis and I know that of Dennis on John too. That means a lot to me that they are using DK's lines.

[democratreformed]

14. I really liked his "Thank You" to his primary opponents and his

acknowledgement of how much the unity has meant to him and our party. I don't know about everyone else, but I was very happy to hear him use Wes Clark's lines. To me, it says that he is listening - something that I haven't felt has been happening in the current admin. at all.

P.S. To me, he has taken the best parts of all of them and put them together. That is a great thing.

[WI_DEM]

17. he also borrowed a bit from Dean I thought

especially when he spoke about the flag not belonging to one party.

[JohnKleeb]

19. It was a great quote to use

Means to me that he'll have truly good intentions.

[robcon]

20. There's a snarky article in Slate that claims Kerry

borrowed his speech from most of his primary opponents...

The Composite Candidate
Eight losers helped John Kerry write his acceptance speech.
By Chris Suellentrop
Posted Thursday, July 29, 2004, at 10:49 PM PT

BOSTON—"The early portions of John Kerry's speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president of the United States resembled a typical Kerry for President campaign event. It was variety hour, with Kerry as emcee, introducing and thanking his special guests: his running mate, John Edwards; his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry; his children and stepchildren, Alexandra and Vanessa Kerry and Andre, Chris, and John Heinz; and of course Max Cleland and Kerry's Vietnam "band of brothers." In a new twist, Kerry also took a moment to thank each of his primary opponents by name—Carol Moseley Braun, Wesley Clark, Howard Dean, Dick Gephardt, Bob Graham, Dennis Kucinich, Joe Lieberman, and Al Sharpton. He thanked them for "teaching me and testing me—but mostly, we say thank you for standing up for our country and for giving us the unity to move America forward." But Kerry forgot to thank them for one other thing: writing his acceptance speech..."

http://slate.com/id/2104538/

[bklyncowgirl]

25. Kerry borrowed themes that worked for his opponents--that's not bad.

John Kerry's campeign is a composite campeign.

That's not a bad thing. He was the one guy who everyone could coalesce around. What I've been impressed with his his ability to make peace with his former opponents and absorb many of their ideas into his campeign.

I've been following Democratic politics for quite a while and I can't remember a time when defeated primary opponents joined the winning campeign with such enthusiasm. Could you imaging Al Gore's campeign putting Bill Bradley on talking heads shows to discuss important policy matters the way Wes Clark has been doing, or Bill Clinton using Jerry Brown to debate Ross Perot the way that Dean debated Nader. It just wasn't going to happen, folks.

Kerry's acceptance speech was awesome because he incorporated ideas that may not have originally been his into something that became a team effort. He did it fluently and gracefully and graciously. Isn't that what leadership is all about.

[quinnox]

26. It is a nice line

And I remember watching that debate.

But seems to me the question is a silly one, and even the quote itself is also silly if you think about it. Anyway, it's the type of line that really doesn't call for serious thinking, and no doubt politically a good one.

[Rebellious Republican]

27. Yes, think it is great to use the best Ideas from all of the candidates

I just posted a reply on this very subject in another thread. Kerry would be smart to incorporate the best of the best in his ideology. See my post http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2117086&mesg_id=2122096&page=