I was at the Kerry event in Austin today! (pics tomorrow, folks)

[muse]

Oh, my goodness! I saw him. The man. The University of Texas Democrats hosted him. He spoke about Kids First - health care for unisured children.

But, who cares? Is he gorgeous in person? YES, HE IS! He looked at my section of the audience the whole time. If you ever go see him, sit on his left (audience's right). He speaks to that part of the audience the entire time. The hair - perfection. Very, very tall. So sincere. Swoon.

Vektor, he wore pleated pants. We never could get him off of that could we? But, it didn't matter. It didn't affect his gorgeousness one bit.

Back to the content of the program -
The whole event was an hour and a half. Lloyd Doggett, a central Texas member of the U.S. House of Representative, spoke briefly, then it was just about all Kerry after that. He spoke for a while about Kids First, then he took questions from the audience. There had to have been 800 people there, at least. There was one oddball question about not providing health care to illegal immigrants. The audience hissed, but Kerry handled it beautifully.

He was treated like a rock star by the crowd. The song that played as we left was the Elvis dance mix of "A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action."

A GREAT day! I forgot to bring my cable to connect my camera to my computer, so I'll post pics tomorrow when I get back to Houston. I wish you all could have been there! There was one girl - a college student - who sat behind me and was as big a groupie as I am. Lots of shrieking going on. :)

[sandnsea]

1. Very cool!!

Can't wait for the pics! And now you mention it, he spoke to his left in Portland too.

But what's with the Elvis song, that's what Dean plays and I know we're going to hear about it. Oh well I guess.

[JI7]

2. while reading this i just tuned into Cspan to see if they would

be playing the bolton hearings so i can see Kerry. and he is on now.


you are so lucky, i can't wait to see the pics.

[JI7]

3. was he still on crutches ?

and the crowd number is impressive, especially since it was on an early saturday.

[muse]

6. no crutches!

He said he just got off of them. He was walking around fine, but he joked about how he couldn't run yet.

[ginnyinWI]

10. lol

he can't run yet--do I detect a double entendre? ;)

[muse]

13. Tee hee!

I thought the same thing when he said it!

He also kept talking about how the republicans were using delay tactics and that was most definitely also referring to Tom DeLay!! The Texas crowd loved it everytime he said that.

[ginnyinWI]

18. the man has a great sense of humor

contrary to popular belief!

I'd call it a "wry" sense of humor--subtle, clever and full of wit. :)

[k j]

4. He is such

a good, good man. I'm properly jealous.

[cestpaspossible]

5. dKos diary on this

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/16/151927/254

[Vektor]

7. I have died a thousand tiny deaths.

DIED, I SAY!
OMG - I would have killed to be there. This sounds absolutely magnificent. I cannot wait until the pictures!

[muse]

8. And, how I wish you had been there, Vek - and all of you

The dKos post is good. Yall should read it. The poster sure left out all of the juicy details about his gorgeousness, though. Aren't yall glad you got the real scoop?!!!!!

[Vektor]

9. I am truly glad -

that we have you to give us the ACCURATE version of events. A description of a Kerry event without several paragraphs about the hotness is a sadly incomplete piece of reporting.

Thank you for a thorough job well done.

I am looking forward to the swoon-worthy pics.

[TayTay]

11. This sounds like fun

Did Sen. Kerry get a standing O?

The DKos diary and your wonderful entry all mention that he took questions. Were the questioners mostly the college kids? Did Kerry use the phrase 'felt need' or did that one go away. (I am just lazily seeing if I am hearing the construction of a stump speech here. By comparing and contrasting what you heard today, I heard last week and what other s hear as well, I back into one. Again, this is lazy work.)

I am thrilled that the accent is on 2006. That is great. I think the GOP is foundering and beginning to come apart at the seems. (I said beginning. It is a long process.) Kerry has given money to the DSCC, the DCCC and to the DNC. He is starting his own fund-raising for KidsFirst. (I got the benign call today. I will contribute to this by mailing in a check to the Friends of John Kerry address.) This is becoming very interesting. Lots of great tea leaves to read.

[muse]

14. Hey, TayTay!

Thought about you today. YES! Several standing ovations! Also, most definitely he used the phrase "felt need".

There were tons of college kids in the audience, but most of the questioners - perhaps all - were older. I thought that was sort of interesting. Very diverse audience. How I love being in a room full of democrats!

And, he talked a lot about 2006 and the need to start a 50 state campaign now, both for 06 and 08.

[TayTay]

16. Okay then, he is hitting his marks

One of the things that made John Edwards a compelling guy to watch on the campaign trail was his actor's ability to make the same speech seem fresh each time he gave it. Sen. Edwards must have given the 'Two Americas' speech hundreds of times. Yet, each time, he 'hit his marks' and made it seem new and fresh.

Sen. Kerry is developing a great stump speech. From what you saw today and what I saw last week, he is building a consistent theme that he will come back to again and again. I am very pleased with this. (The sooner the better as far as I am concerned.)

The speech concerns the critical needs that are being neglected in America today. The Senator then acknowledges that the Dems alone are not going to be able to do much against the tide of Rethugs in Congress, the White House and the Judiciary. The American people know what the greatest needs in the country are and that they are being ignored by the party in power. These 'felt needs' are building up pressure in the country and only direct action by the people will result in change. The Senator enumerated five things that he felt were the greatest of these 'felt needs'
1. Health Care
2. The Environment
3. America's place in the world. (This addresses our foreign policy and the rightness and fairness of it.)
4. American infrastructure. (Neglect of educational needs, veteran's benefits, etc.)
5. Election reform. We must never again let our elections be suspect. We must never again let minorities be disenfranchised as they were in 2000 and 2004.

Hmmm, I truly like this. And he hit his marks, right? By that I mean he was not pressured, he took time to enunciate the applause lines in the speech and waited for the crowd to respond. A great political speech is an interactive event, the pol talks, the people respond, the pol can feed off their energy and the speech gets better. Was it so? I haven't thought in depth about this yet, but I think I will. This is very encouraging news.

Thanks for the report and for putting up with my wonky ways.

[kerrygoddess]

19. I think we need to stress these things too

1. Health Care
2. The Environment
3. America's place in the world. (This addresses our foreign policy and the rightness and fairness of it.)
4. American infrastructure. (Neglect of educational needs, veteran's benefits, etc.)
5. Election reform. We must never again let our elections be suspect. We must never again let minorities be disenfranchised as they were in 2000 and 2004.

One of the best things we can do to help JK will be to stress these issues and talk about them whenever possible. And whenever possible reference back to JK and things he has said about them.

[muse]

21. Absolutely hitting his marks

He especially hit on health care and the environment.

It all sounded very natural and not canned at all. He makes such a personal connection with the audience. He wove in the themes you mentioned in his answers to the questions asked by the audience. He was very big on all of us making things happen - that it would take us creating a movement in this country to affect change. He gave examples from the past of how people have banded together to bring attention to issues and bring around a change in the way government works. He was very, very hopeful of how democrats could make their issues the ones that were important to everyone.

[TayTay]

22. This is excellent

Whether we like it or not, what makes an impression in politics is saying your themes over and over and over again. (A month or two from now, we will be able to say themin our sleep.) This is a very good thing. It's consistency, it's talking points that everybody knows and it gets everybody on the same damn page.

I am very impressed that Kerry is doing this, and doing it so early. Excellent work. And it shouldn't sound canned. There is both an art and a science to good politics. This is the art.

[ginnyinWI]

12. wonderful report, muse

It is so good that Kerrycrats can cover these events and report personally--it's like we have our own media. Admittedly, our reporting is apt to be a little BIASED...but we likes it that way! Keep it up, everyone! :) :)

I don't know of any Wisconsin events coming up. I'll bet JK is good and sick of us, after all the visits during the campaign. John Edwards was in Milwaukee a few weeks ago, but it cost $100 for the lower-priced ticket, and $250 if you wanted to be at the cocktail-type thing afterward!

I saw JK twice, the second time in a relatively small crowd (not a big rally but maybe 300-400 or so indoors), and yes, his goodness is even more evident in person than on tv. He shows gentleness and strength at the same time, with a lot of good-humor thrown in as a bonus.

[muse]

15. perfect description of what he is like in person, ginny

Sigh. I can live on these memories for a while!!

[politicasista]

17. Thanks for the report muse!

Can't wait for the pics. :hi:

[kerrygoddess]

20. Sounds like Muse and all enjoyed!

I just read this and the DKos diary. Sounds like a great day. I can't wait till he comes back to L.A. He's missed out here.