What an amazing night of speakers. I'm not sure the GOP will be able to come close to the quality of speakers, along with the passion that the speakers are consistently giving. It is difficult to pick on favorite speaker from tonight's lineup, but there were some highlights.
The senate candidate from Illinois, Barack Obama, was dynamic, and an extremely powerful speaker. His background and his passion have created an amazing individual; one that will provide a very effective voice in Illinois. His parents gave them an African name – Barack – which means blessed, as they believed that in a tolerant America, your name is no barrier to success. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) described him as a “candidate whose life celebrates the opportunity of America,” in his introduction. Obama will be a person to watch. I don't doubt he will win the senate seat he is seeking, but look beyond that 🙂
Ron Reagan appearing at the convention was suprising, yet eye-opening. and educational. It will be interesting to see if the GOP can provide similar people for their convention later next month. His explanation of how embryonic stem-cell research can affect the lives of everyday people in a positive way, and not what the stem-cells are said to be by conservative parts of the community. He didn't come out in support of John Kerry, but he did provide a very strong suggestion to vote in favor of stem-cell research (part of the Democratic 2004 Platform).
Prior to Teresa Heinz Kerry's speech, a young lady from California spoke to the convention. At age 12, Ilana Wexler founded Kids for Kerry, and her speech was youthful (obviously) and quite amusing. She was a wonderful speaker who I am sure will be hearing of in the coming years as she moves through high school, college and beyone. I'm looking forward to reading her speech again the Democrat Convention site.
Then there was Teresa Heinz Kerry. What an amazing woman with a fantastic story. Her speech was personal, and about her. Contrary to what some commentators are saying, I think this is something that many Americans needed to here – strong women shouldn't be something to be frightened of. I going to wait until her speech is published, so I can pull some quotes.