DNC Winter Meeting: Ret. Gen. Wes Clark
Who: Ret. Gen. Wes Clark
Standing ovations: 0
Used notes: didn't appear to
Introduced by: DNC finance chair Phil Murphy.
Subtle Theme:I'm a general. This is a national security election.
Overt Theme: I'm a general. This is a national security eleciton.
Bragging: Clark was in the military for 34 years. "Over 34 years," in fact. "I know all of the units. I know many of the commanders. A lot of them worked for me.:" "I joined the military at the age of 17." "Fought in Vietnam." "Helped create the national security strategy of the United States." "I helped end a war in Korea, prevent one in Bosnia" and saved the Balkans.
Playing to the crowd: "A woman only makes 77 cents on the dollar to a man." "Where is the equality in America?"
Cliches: "It's not enough to be right. We must also be strong." "re-energize the American spirit." "Let's remember who we are as Americans."
Discordant note: A Clinton jibe? Some of the "problems existed before [Bush] took office."
Uses of the word "affordable" 1
Howard Dean suck up: 50 state strategy, um-hum. Dean's doing great.
Self-deprecation: None
Staffed by: unclear
Considering how much he actually has to brag about, I thought he was quite modest!
One complaint -- I think you are jumping to conclusions that pre-exisitng problems comment was a Clinton jibe. It is just Clark presenting all sides of an issue in a limited time span.
Although Clark is a military man, he is much more than a one-trick pony. And his theme yesterday was not just that he is a retired general, but rather that, unlike any of the other candidates, he has experience addressing the issues we face today, from the Iraq War and Iran to disaster preparedness at home to dealing with the spiraling deficit.
Instead of 'bragging,' how about 'citing experience relevant to the job'. Don't you think experience is a useful feature in a President?
As to self-deprecation one could say that the entire speech was self-deprecatory, as he did not include more of his relevant experience.
I assume that you found Edwards to have been constantly playing to the crowd and using cliches; otherwise, there was no 'there' there.
What you are calling a "Clinton jibe" was more likely a jibe at Reagan and GHWB.
GENERALS ARE DIRT CHEAP.