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Inside Politics
The Morning Grind / Political Hot Topics

Edwards: 'Hope is on the way'


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CNN's John Mercurio on Kerry's speech to come.

John Edwards says Kerry will bring optimism to Americans.

The Rev. Al Sharpton's rousing speech.
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• Edwards:  'Hope is on the way'
• Sharpton:  Black vote 'not for sale'
• Gallery:  Revving the crowd
• GOP response:  Kerry and Iraq
MAKING THEIR CASE
Day Four: Thursday

• Theme: "Stronger at Home, Respected in the World"

• 4 p.m. ET: Session opens

• 7-9:45 p.m. ET: Speakers include Madeleine Albright, Joe Biden, Wesley Clark, Joe Lieberman, Nancy Pelosi and Carole King performing "You've Got a Friend"

• 9:45 p.m. ET: Family members of John Kerry speak -- Vanessa and Alexandra Kerry, Chris and Andre Heinz

• 10 p.m. ET: Veterans of Kerry's crew in Vietnam speak, followed by Sen. Max Cleland's introduction of Kerry

• 10:30 p.m. ET: John Kerry delivers his address in acceptance of the Democratic presidential nomination
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Morning Grind

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Check out the links below to hot political stories around the country this morning.

  • THE VEEP: John Edwards, summoning all his skills as a trial lawyer and a populist, made an impassioned case for John Kerry on Wednesday, hailing him as a battle-tested veteran ready to be commander-in-chief and a man who could restore economic hope and opportunity. "Hope is on the way," Edwards declared to a cheering Democratic National Convention.
  • The New York Times: Edwards, hailing Kerry, says 'Hope is on the way'external link

  • KERRY'S SPEECH: Senior Kerry aides, although cautioning that decisions could change at the last moment, said he was unlikely to detail significant new positions today on key issues such as Iraq. That means the speech's success is likely to turn on Kerry's ability to establish personal connections with voters that build trust in him as a leader.
  • The Los Angeles Times: The heaviest load is for Kerry aloneexternal link

  • ENERGY IDEAS: Framing it as a national security and foreign-policy concern rather than an environmental one, Kerry in his much-anticipated speech tonight is expected to call on the nation and auto industry to support a $10-billion plan to dramatically reduce America's dependence on Middle Eastern oil.
  • The Detroit Free Press: Kerry: Billions for car industryexternal link

  • BAND OF BROTHERS: As they have so many times before, Kerry's Navy crewmates were waiting to lend him a hand Wednesday as he arrived here to accept the Democratic nomination for president. Surrounding the senator in their dark blue swift boat shirts, the 13 veterans escorted Kerry across Boston Harbor on the deck of a harbor cruise ship draped in red, white and blue bunting. For Kerry, the men he once commanded on a Navy swift boat in Vietnam serve as a symbol of everything he wants the American public to think and know about him: that he is a leader, that he saw combat, that he acted with valor and that he knows more than most about the larger meaning of national security.
  • The Chicago Tribune: Veterans again pave way for Kerryexternal link

  • THE REV: The Rev. Al Sharpton electrified the sleepy Democratic convention center last night, challenging President Bush head-on for daring to court black voters. "Read my lips -- our vote is not for sale!" Sharpton bellowed, a tweak of Bush's father in an attention-grabbing, script-scrapping speech that ran well over the allotted time and had conventioneers on their feet time and again. The crowd went wild when Sharpton invoked the party's symbol to rebut Bush's questions about black voters' loyalties to the Democrats.
  • The New York Daily News: High-voltage Rev. Al takes fight to Bushexternal link

  • MR. BIG STUFF: Not only did Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell have to follow Sharpton's barn-burner of a speech last night, but the cable networks ignored him. C-SPAN was the only cable outlet to carry Rendell's speech on energy independence. And as Rendell took the podium, the music from Jean Knight's 1971 hit "Mr. Big Stuff" blared from the sound system ("Mr. Big Stuff. Who do you think you are?")
  • The Philadelphia Daily News: Rendell: No respectexternal link

  • BOOST FOR BOSTON? Promises of a Democratic convention windfall now seem as empty as Boston's streets this week to many Hub merchants, restaurants, tourist sites and small businesses. Through all but the last day of the four-day convention, the event has not been a boon, interviews with dozens of Hub businesses revealed. In fact, many say they've lost out as residents and workers skipped town and delegates ate for free at high-end parties.
  • The Boston Herald: Verdict's in on business-killing DNC: It's a bustexternal link

  • WHERE ARE THE PROTESTERS? As the convention culminates today, protesters are planning a bike ride, a flashlight peace vigil near the FleetCenter, and unpredictable "decentralized actions" throughout the city. But signs suggest that there simply aren't enough activists here to create the kind of chaos that hit Miami, Seattle, or even the major party conventions in Los Angeles and Philadelphia in 2000. With an administration that many on the left blame for getting the country into a needless war, many progressives, radicals and Greens are saving their protests for the Republican National Convention in New York.
  • The Boston Globe: Activists appear to save anger for NYCexternal link

  • THE ROAD AHEAD: Kerry was nominated here on Wednesday by a Democratic Party that is as united as any in years -- awash in money, crackling with partisan energy and invigorated by polls that suggest that Bush can be ousted. Bush will move quickly to join Kerry on the campaign trail, ending nearly two weeks in which the Democratic senator had the campaign stage almost to himself. The president plans to begin campaigning the morning after Kerry accepts his nomination tonight, and continue through most of the month, intent on minimizing the advantage Kerry might draw from his convention as Bush heads into his own nominating convention in New York.
  • The New York Times: Obstacles Lie in Wait Down Road for Kerryexternal link

  • THE RESTORATION: Kerry as yet has no catchy phrase for his campaign. Yet if the Democratic nominee is still missing a slogan, he has gradually revealed a message. His candidacy stands for The Restoration. Restoring the policies and personnel of the 1990s is by no means an official theme of the Kerry campaign. As in the case of other presidential challengers, Kerry and his advisers say, Kerry's emphasis is on new ideas for the future, a theme he will likely strike hard when he presents himself to a large national audience for the first time, during his Thursday night acceptance speech.
  • The Washington Post: A Nostalgia for the consensus of the 1990sexternal link

  • CONFLICTED KERRY: A look at how Kerry made up his mind on the war vote indicates that he was conflicted before he cast his vote. The concerns that apparently plague him -- the questions he asked at public hearings, the caveats and reservations he voiced on the Senate floor before casting his vote -- reflected his ambivalence as well as his ambition. And that ambivalence sowed the seeds of Kerry's future shifts on the issue, including his vote a year later against a bill providing $87 billion in aid that went mainly to Iraq.
  • The Los Angeles Times: Why a conflicted Kerry voted yes -- and later no -- on Iraqexternal link

  • VIRGIN VOTERS: The "Virgin Voter" is the newest demographic catchphrase in the 2004 campaign, following in the tradition of the "Soccer Mom" and the "NASCAR Dad." Democratic strategists are focusing attention on young first-time voters, ages 18 to 25, as potential swing voters in November.
  • The Washington Times: 2004 shapes up as year of 'Virgin'external link

  • NO SOUP FOR YOU: A soup kitchen that has fed New York City's poorest for 15 years has become a temporary casualty of next month's Republican National Convention. The feeding station at the Church of St. John the Baptist, on W. 31st St., will close for a week as security in the surrounding area is tightened for the GOP event. The church itself will be commandeered by cops working the convention for use as a base.
  • The New York Daily News: Soup's not on during GOP feteexternal link

  • WITHDRAWAL PAPERS, PLEASE: Illinois Republican Party officials, hoping to spur former Senate candidate Jack Ryan into formally taking his name off the ballot, on Wednesday scheduled a special meeting of the party's State Central Committee for next week. The committee will meet in Chicago Tuesday to either vet replacements for the Republican primary winner or plot a strategy to get Ryan to file the one-page form that would make his withdrawal official.
  • The Chicago Tribune: Republicans nudging Ryan to file exit papersexternal link

    Compiled by Mark H. Rodeffer


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