BOSTON — When New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson called the
Democratic National Convention to order at 4:00 p.m. last Monday,
every speaker from Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry
McAuliffe to former Senator Max Cleland set the stage and built up
the reputation, strength and record of John Kerry, now officially a
presidential candidate.

The speakers list preceding Kerry featured many historic
Democratic Party leaders like former presidents Bill Clinton and
Jimmy Carter as well as all of the former Democratic
presidential-hopefuls, dozens of Capitol Hill members, keynote
speaker Barack Obama and running mate Sen. John Edwards. After the
four-day drum roll anticipating Kerry’s steps onto the Fleet
Center Convention floor, he faced enormous expectations by giving a
climactic 56-minute acceptance speech Thursday night.

“On my first day in office, I will send a message to every
man and woman in our (U.S.) Armed Forces: you will never be asked
to fight a war without a plan to win the peace,” Kerry said.
“Saying there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq
doesn’t make it so. Saying we can fight a war on the cheap
doesn’t make it so and proclaiming ‘mission
accomplished’ certainly doesn’t make it so.”

The war in Iraq is widely considered the most important issue
this election, an issue Kerry has tackled as a major, but not only,
failing of the Bush administration.

“I will be a commander in chief who will never mislead us
into war. I will have a vice president who will not conduct secret
meetings with polluters and rewrite our environmental laws. I will
have a secretary of defense who will listen to the advice of our
military leaders. And I will appoint an attorney general who will
uphold the Constitution of the United States,” Kerry said.
“My fellow Americans, this is the most important election of
our lifetime. The stakes are high. We are a nation at war, a global
war on terror against an enemy unlike any we have ever known
before.”

President George W. Bush, however, criticized Kerry’s
voting record in Iraq, intelligence funding, taxes and other
issues. “We heard a lot of clever speeches and some big
promises,” Bush commented Friday after the Convention.

Thursday’s acceptance speech was marked by Kerry’s
detailing of the Bush Administration’s flaws and calls to
“judge me by my record,” a notion the Bush
Administration is more than eager to do.

“After 19 years in the United States Senate, my opponent
has had thousands of votes but very few signature
achievements,” Bush said.

Bush and Kerry both began extensive campaign tours of the United
States after the convention, both focusing on the Midwest, an area
hit hard by the faltered economy. Kerry plans to use his speech
during a two-week, 21-state tour of the United States to ride the
traditional “bounce” in party support that conventions
historically provide.

“When I came here my motto was let’s get America
back on track and it had nothing to with John Kerry and John
Edwards. But after tonight, it is about the individuals for
me,” said Karen Gutman, a writer and delegate from
California. “Kerry is an individual and an extraordinary
choice. Before I was hoping he would be but now I really feel this
candidate can really be an excellent leader. I’ve been
waiting for him to say something with the authority he did
tonight.”

Kerry’s speech received varied responses from attendants
in the Fleet Center, but every person interviewed by The Michigan
Daily shared the same sentiment that Kerry’s speech was one
that “needed to be made” and a successful and inspiring
speech to jump-start his campaign for the presidency.

“I don’t think any candidate can ever live up to the
expectations the convention sets out. I think the convention is
just to heal some of the wounds of the primaries and calm the
infighting,” said Will Kimlaw, a Cambridge resident and
graduate of Tufts University. “His speech was excellent
though; it addressed all the major issues for voters and the most
important point is it was an all positive speech.”

At one point during the speech, Kerry directly addressed Bush
about campaigning positively.

“I want to address these next words to President Bush. In
the weeks ahead, let’s be optimists, not just opponents.
Let’s build unity in the American family, not angry division.
Let’s honor this nation’s diversity and let’s
respect one another,” Kerry said.

The next day, Bush responded with pointed statements about
Kerry’s inability to lead a country with any competence.