Kennedy Launches "Flame-Throwing Verbal Assault" On Bush
The AP reports that Sen. Ted Kennedy "told the party faithful Tuesday night that America can only reclaim its greatness by denying President Bush a second term." The AP adds, "Despite the Kerry campaign's admonition to convention speakers not to risk alienating undecided voters with red-meat attacks on the president, Kennedy unleashed what amounted to the latest in a string of flame-throwing verbal assaults on Bush."
The Chicago Sun Times reports this morning that Kennedy "called President Bush, not by name, 'a divider who only claims to be a uniter.' He talked about a 'monarch named George who inherited the crown.' Subtle he is not. . . .The Bush-bashing is supposed to be kept to a minimum, but it's hard to keep everybody on message." The Wall Street Journal called the speech "a stark attack on the president."
The Arizona Republic reports "the Democrats' liberal icon delivered the convention's harshest criticism so far of President Bush and the war in Iraq." The Republic adds that the Boston Globe "surveyed Democratic delegates and said that 95 percent considered the war in Iraq a mistake, a far higher percentage than the country as a whole."
The Washington Post adds that "to the surprise of many," Kennedy "failed to electrify the partisan audience as he had done so many times before."
