The “Week of the Democrats” is finally over and now we can reflect upon what was said and what we now know about the Democratic ticket of John Kerry and John Edwards. We no longer have to turn on the television to see Michael Moore running around the floor or Ben Affleck making out with Kerry’s daughter. It’s 93 days until Americans cast our ballots and decide who leads this nation for the next four years.

Monday night had some great speeches. Al Gore got off of his MoveOn.org high horse and actually sounded more reasonable despite his constant allusions to the 2000 election. Jimmy Carter showed America just why he was voted out of office with such authority in 1980 by furthering his appeasement policy. It is odd though that he alluded to the Democrats restoring pride in America when his tenure as president crushed the hopes and dreams of many Americans. Hillary Clinton spoke longer than she was allotted to open up for her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Clinton gave a good speech, but this is something he is known for. The one item that I still vividly remember is that Clinton applauded Kerry for joining the Vietnam War and lamented President Bush and his own “dodgings” of the war.

Tuesday began with news of Teresa Heinz Kerry telling a reporter to “shove it.” While many of us probably agree with her comment to the reporter, it was her denial of her comments that is disturbing. Democrats continual use of the words “un-american” and “un-patriotic” demonstrate who is actually running a negative campaign. Ted Kennedy took the stage and introduced the theme of Boston’s historical patriotism in bringing a change to Colonial America. How the conclusions between America’s colonial age and today are intertwined I do not know. I’m not sure that many Americans will understand this as well. Howard Dean gave a speech that lasted at most five minutes and failed to either pump up Kerry or discuss the mainstream Democratic ideals. Is he promoting himself for a run in 2008? Arizona Governor Janet Napalitano discussed health care, completely ignoring the illegal immigration crisis that grips her state. An unknown before the convention, Barack Obama, captured the attention of all Americans with his outstanding performance on stage leaving some to already pick him to run in 2008. Obama sounded like a conservative Democrat, something the current Democratic nominees are not, and it will be interesting to see how he fares in 2008 after his Senate record is revealed.

Former President Ronald Reagan’s son, Ron Reagan, discussed the issue of stem-cell research claiming that he was not at the Convention as a partisan. A non-partisan doesn’t take shots at the other party. The Democrats felt this would show Americans that they are a bi-partisan party, yet it should be known that Ron Reagan has voiced his Democratic ideology for over 20 years. Teresa Heinz Kerry was up next and despite the media hoping for a good quote, there weren’t any. In fact, the speech only had one memorable line concerning her opinionated self and the right for women to be so. This would have been a great opportunity to show the personal side of her husband however she went on and on talking about herself and how she faught against apartheid in South Africa.

Wednesday brought vice-presidential candidate John Edwards on stage. Edwards’ strong suit is domestic policy. This is where he has appeal and brings the little bit of public policy experience to the table. Of course in this respect he did well. Edwards however discussed foreign policy and sounded as knowledgable as a 16-year old repeating what Terry McAullife has told him. He seemed rushed and nervous dispite his trial attorney days of winning lawsuits against corporations for serving hot coffee.

Thursday was the day that we got to see John Kerry take on the world and try to establish himself as an actual candidate for President of the United States. News of Kerry’s Vietnam War footage to be used in a short film before his speech had hit the internet in large form casting serious doubts on the credibility of the film. Kerry didn’t divulge any new information to the political pundits watching his speech other than he was once in a band in high school. Only if we could turn back the clock Kerry.

Overall, the Democrats continued what they have already been campaigning about; economy, Bush lied, health care, Bush misled, Iraq, Bush is incompetent, etc. The feeling I got from watching all of the speeches was that the Democrats seem to be riding a ticket of pre-9/11 ideals, not the post-9/11 climate that we now live in. The week was a drag and nothing new about John Kerry was revealed. He still will not pull the troops out of Iraq even though he deems the war an “unjust” war and despite many of his delegates wanting a full-out retreat. Kerry still maintains that he can get “our allies” into the Iraq War and provide a “safer and stronger America.” Nothing new, nothing gained.

It will be interesting to see if the polls get a boost from this convention. There will be some sort of boost, but will it be enough for Kerry to defeat Bush in November? Bush has a major advantage in this scenario though. The Republicans were smart enough to have their convention after the Democrats and much closer to the election. Americans are a people of short attention spans and have a “what have you done for me lately” attitude when it comes to public policy. The DNC’s choice to have their Convention in July will have a devastating effect on the overall election.