2004 Democratic nominee and current Senator John Kerry gave perhaps one the best speeches of the night at the Democratic National Convention Aug 27 2008. 

Apparently, commentators on the cable networks fell in love with hearing themselves talk because almost all of his speech was not shown live; at least on MSNBC and CNN where I was flipping back and forth between to see which one was going to show Kerry. I finally had to flip over to C-SPAN to see it.

 Kerry flat out says that the country can't afford a 3rd Bush term. Since John McCain has voted with George Bush 90% of the time, Kerry told the crowd, "90% of George Bush is more than we can take".

"Never in modern history has an administration squandered American power so recklessly," the Senator exclaimed.

Kerry succinctly gave one of the best compare/contrast illustrations between "Senator McCain" (the alleged straight-talker from 2000) and "Candidate McCain", who has flip-flopped on countless issues by starting off that section of his speech with the words "To those who still believe the myth of a maverick, instead of the reality of a politician..." Ouch.

Kerry said "Candidate McCain" now supports wartime tax cuts that "Senator McCain" used to oppose.  He said, "Candidate McCain" now criticizes his own Climate Change bill.

He also smacked McCain for flip-flopping on immigration by saying "Candidate McCain" now will vote against the very Immigration bill that "Senator McCain" wrote.

Then he made reference to his own candidacy and the way in which Republicans skewered him in 2004.

In a moment that got the crowd cheering again, he said: "Are you kidding me folks? Talk about being 'for it' before you're 'against it'!  

This was a direct shot at the way his words were used against him by George Bush and the Republicans in 2004. 

There much more. For those who also missed it, make sure you watch the video. This is the speech which should have gotten uninterrupted coverage. 

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