SOTU – Democratic Response
8:18pm Virginia is a state, just like all the others.
8:19pm Prompted, I suppose, by Hillary Clinton, Kaine started off by talking about his missionary work as a young man. Smart move.
8:20pm Also, Kaine has that deer-in-the-headlights look. But I don’t blame him for being nervous.
8:21pm So far, Kaine is playing from the Opposition Playbook. Comparing Clinton’s surplusses with Bush’s deficits, etc. Standard stuff, but he also seems to be relaxing a bit.
And if it seems like I’m spending too much time on Kaine’s performance, it’s because this is his first time on the national stage.
8:23pm There’s not much to say here, because Kaine isn’t actually, you know, responding to what Bush said. If the Democrats want to win, they’ve got to take Bush and the Republicans head on. Kaine isn’t doing that. He’s only five minutes into his speech, and he’s already presented a longer “laundry list” than Bush did in an hour.
8:25pm “We must defeat those who attack and kill innocent people.” Kaine is also talking about how some of those killed on 9/11 were killed right in his state.
This should be good stuff, but it isn’t. Instead, Kaine is repeating the same old talking points we’ve heard for two years now. This is an unimpressive debut speech – and it has DNC fingerprints all over it.
8:26pm OK, I have a 2008 Election Drinking Game. Every time between now and then, take a shot every time a Democrat says “there’s a better way.”
Your liver will give out long before the election. Maybe even before Kaine is done talking.
8:28pm I actually feel sorry for this guy. I’m sure that if he’d been taken off the leash, he could have given a credible response.
8:29pm Nice finish after a lackluster effort.
Final thoughts in just a bit.
Never understood the difference between a state and a commonwealth myself.
this guy is an assclown. How does a vacuum cleaner salesman get a job as an elected official?
“What’s more, if you order today we’ll throw in an extra health insurance subsidy. Act fast, this is a limited time offer!”
Assclown? Maybe … I was just thinking how much better he is than Pelosi/Reid double-team of last coupld of years.
every time he raises his eyebrows I stop believing him.
Ok, this guy is creeping me out.
And, um, what exactly is this better way?
“There’s a better way” what 8 times in 5 minutes?
“Better way” reminds me of Al Gore when he was up against Kemp in the vp debate. AlGore must have repeated “A risky, dangerous strategy” 10-15 times.
When his eyebrows go up he looks like the Joker.
The pacing of his delivery…
was very annoying and predictable – stop.
I found his demeanor…
awkward and uncomfortable, but that’s understandable – stop.
He was a very monotonic speaker…
which I understand, being one myself – stop.
But there’s a better way – stop.
In Toastmasters we all, Democrats and Republicans…
work together to improve our public speaking skills – stop.
ARGH!
What the hell is up with that eyebrow?!?!? It’s worse than Botox Boy during the debates in 2004…
Okay, I’m gonna be somewhat nice here: Kaine did a pretty solid job, as far as those silly responses go. Of course, Reid and Pelosi’s performance last year put the bar very low, but still, a solid performance.
That said, I’m a Virginia resident, so let me give you some inside info. When he talked about how “republicans and democrats worked together to solve Virginia’s problems”, guess what that meant? “Raise taxes!”, you say? Oh yes, and the biggest tax increase in Virginia’s history, too, resulting in a huge surplus, so now they have to come up with new ways to spend the money.
Oh, and and the demand that oil companies “return their excess profits” didn’t do anything for me, but then again I’m not a marxist.
two thoughts about the “theres a better way” catchphrase.
1. Democrats never miss a chance to make you feel like youre on a par with the family pet when it comes to how they feel about your intelligence. You are too stupid to take care of yourself is the core of democratic party theology. That message is received again when they insist on the asinine speech 101 class technique of “repeat the key phrase over and over” method of communication. They always go for the rhyiming pentameter, the “cute catch phrase”, the “we are as hip as you kids” phraseology. If you want my vote, dont hold me in contempt.
2. “Theres a better way” sounds to me to be as much like an epitaph for the democrats as a reason to vote for them. There are lots of better ways, some of them are evern republican, but with the moonbats pulling the democratic stagecoach, it could also be the catchphrase a new green party forming out of the remnants of a once great politcal party thats now been reduced to street theater and a host of lost macys thanksgiving day ballons for its top leaders.
Just In Case You Missed It
Vodkapundit’s Stephen Green was live/drunk-blogging the State of the Union and imbiding in a martini or two in the process. Which is, of course, the only way one can handle a political speech in America today.
Some hightlights:
6:52pm Maybe not …
Governor Kaine, in eleven minutes, articulated exactly why the Democrats won’t do so well in a year when they should: they don’t have anything to articulate–unless, of course, more effective garbage pick-up has become a winning issue.
“What Do We Do Now?”
More here and here….
I find the concept of a response silly.
SOTU is a duty of the president. if it is a written report, a speech, etc, it is his duty to report to Congress.
Why have the networks allowed a response? How do you “respond” to a speech designed to give an update?
Dear People of the Commonwealth of Virginia:
It’s okay to admit that you voted for Tim Kaine because you were so distracted by his eyebrow that you forgot to pay attention to what was coming out of his mouth.
Have fun with your tax raises.
Signed,
A Resident of one of those other Commonwealth-type states, PA
PS: Go Swanny!
Clinton never had a surplus. The federal debt went up every year under Clinton. Check the fact for yourself.
Kaine lost credibility with me when he said something about how Democrats were reaching out to work to solve the nation’s problems. Wish he had named names, because the only Dem who comes even close is Lieberman.
Kaine’s eyebrow is too weird. I only caught part of the speech (who listens to the response?) but that brow kept me from listening at all. Was he impersonating Spock? Was it in fact a catepillar and was it going to start moving?
Was it just me, but didn’t Kaine look like Howard Dean’s long-lost little brother, with a dip of snuff in his bottom lip? Of course, it might just be me…