All Times Eastern
11:48
J.D. Vance is on Fox, reacting to Walz’ speech. And accusing Harris/Walz of offering a “dark and ominous portrait” of Trump’s presidency. Fox wraps up. Brit Hume says, “I’ll have a soft spot for Tim Walz that will last the rest of my life … He speaks for 17 minutes and then we’re out of here.” Laughs the host, “I was wondering where that was going!” The Fox crew discusses the need to “tighten things up” tomorrow, so that Harris actually speaks in prime time. I flick over to MSNBC, where they are discussing exactly the same thing.
11:22
Tim Walz, please be good. Oh, the whole family is in tears. Or as they’re about to be called, “the Walz crime family.”
Walz is describing his own regular, normal life intertwined with time-tested government benefits—Social Security, the G.I. Bill—and independent from government interference, on abortion, etc. He’s saying this combination is what normal life in modern America is and ought to be. Well, isn’t it?
I love this guy’s football coach energy. This is a full-on locker room, pre-game pep-talk.
AND THEN MOMENTS AFTER I TYPED THE ABOVE, WALZ SAYS: “You might not know, I haven’t given a lot of speeches like this. But I have given a lot of pep talks.” And then he goes straight into a football pep-talk metaphor. “We’re gonna leave it on the field!”
11:09
Okay, do east coast people actually stay up this late all the time?
11:00
Pete Buttigieg, on J.D. Vance: “At least Mike Pence was polite.” Continues: “Darkness is what [Trump and Vance] are selling.” Says, “I don’t believe America is in the market for darkness.” Says that politics can be positive, can be a form of “soul craft.” “I believe in a better politics … decent … open … brave.” Describes the aggravating moments in his “almost ordinary” family’s night, when politics seems distant … but that was “brought about through idealism and courage, through organizing and persuasion , through storytelling, and yes, through politics.”
10:52
Tim Walz! Nope. Moore is Wes. Lord, I’m about speeched out.
10:32
Oprah to the evening’s rescue. Quoting John Lewis: “No matter what ship our ancestors arrived on, we are all in the same boat now.” She speaks of “the best of America,” claims most Americans represent it. “When a house is on fire, we don’t ask their race or religion … and if the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady … well we try to get that cat out too.”
“Soon, and very soon—we’re going to be teaching our daughters and sons about how this child of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father—two idealistic, energetic immigrants—immigrants!—grew up to be president of the United States. That is the best of America!”
10:24
This poem is a what Oz called the Tin Man: a “clinking, clanking, clattering collection of caliginous junk.” You’re not 22 anymore, Amanda. Next!
10:16
Josh Shapiro is a product of ChatGPT. Next!
10:15
How many eight-hitters are in this lineup?
10:11
In video, good to show her Senate cross-examinations. She was always good at that, and one can imagine it translating to sharp Cabinet deliberations and tough negotiations with foreign leaders.
9:52
Nancy Pelosi: Obligatory paean to Biden, praise for Harris (and Walz), a few clever turns of phrase and so on. In a conversation with a veteran political speechwriter today I said maybe Trump did political scribes one favor, with all his bullshit rhetoric over the last decade. Maybe he freed them from being paid for knowing the traditional conventions of political speeches, and allowed them to be paid for exploring the creative possibilities of same. Not sure Pelosi’s scribe got the memo. Next!
9:28
Bill Clinton: This guy has rarely inspired me, and so far tonight is no exception. This is a shambling, rambling, stumbling, bumbling thing. Or as a veteran speechwriter just emailed: “They made a damn mistake putting Bill Clinton on the third night. This man is a social motormouth—he has been yakking and yakking and schmoozing for three straight days. Whatever voice that 78-year-old man had is clearly shot. They should have expected this and put him on Monday night before he was talked out. In the meantime, not yelling and trying to speak a half-octave lower might help.”
Next!
***
I can’t believe there are two more nights of this. This is like the year the Cubs played in the World Series, after which a friend of mine sighed, “I’m not just tired. I’m Vegas tired.”
Lest you think that professional speechwriters are cold, cynical technicians impervious to the charms of their own art form: No, my experience is that speechwriters are the biggest suckers on the planet for a great speech. (One reason I like speechwriters so much.)
This morning I fielded all kinds of enthusiasms this one from speechwriters, including this from a scribe who works for a big old button-down American institution: “It doesn’t matter how much technology, behaviors, interests, and society changes, there’s nothing like a monumental speech (or two of them!) delivered by the right person at the right time to set the world ablaze. I’m still coming down off of last night.”
And here’s one from a Republican speechwriter: “You know, I don’t always like it when you’re right, but you’re right! I thought Doug Emhoff’s speech was personal and stirring. And few on either side can come close to the Obamas. Those three speeches that I watched were riveting and remarkable in their own way. That’s how it should be done. I’m tiring of the people on my side demonizing rhetorical excellence. Besides, for someone to sound plain-spoken, spontaneous, and conversational, it takes a lot of work to pull it off convincingly.”
When the big guns start to sound tonight, so will we, here at Writing Boots.
Leave a Reply