Political Reactions My Reaction to a 2000 Republican Primary Debate 6 Apr 20206 Apr 2020 I've been dreading this one. If there are two political “groups” I can't stand, it's the Bush and Clinton entourages. I literally cringe watching Hillary or Bush II speak—they have…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 2000 Democratic Primary Debate 6 Apr 20206 Apr 2020 I'm really surprised the field this cycle was so narrow. Literally it's just two candidates, Gore and Bradley. I thought the 2016 primary was small with only 3 serious contenders,…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 1996 Republican Primary Debate 6 Apr 20206 Apr 2020 I like Bob Dole, and think he's a decent man. But if his older 1996 incarnation is the best you've got, you're in trouble. Especially against a charismatic person like…
Political Reactions My Reaction to Another 1992 Democratic Primary Debate 6 Apr 20206 Apr 2020 In this debate, which I'm only guessing is from Iowa, we have all the candidates again except Agran, but with a new guy, Douglas Wilder. Let's see if he's worth…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 1988 Republican Primary Debate 6 Apr 20206 Apr 2020 Obviously, I'm wondering if Bush really was the cream of the crop, or if a better alternative was passed over. It's clear after seeing the 1988 Democratic debates that Dukakis…
Political Reactions My Reaction to Another 1988 Democratic Primary Debate 5 Apr 20205 Apr 2020 The Iowa primary gave me a good idea of who everyone is this cycle, but the field of candidates was interesting enough to where I wanted to take a second…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 1988 Democratic Primary Debate 5 Apr 20205 Apr 2020 Continuing with my analysis of past primary seasons, this is the 1988 Democratic Primary debate from Iowa. For me, without a lovable underdog like McGovern in this race, or a…
Political Reactions My Reaction to Another 1984 Democratic Primary Debate 5 Apr 20205 Apr 2020 This is the only other 1984 Primary debate which includes McGovern and can be found online. There are a few others with just Mondale, Hart and Jackson…but I'm not sure…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 1984 Democratic Primary Debate 5 Apr 20205 Apr 2020 This one is interesting to me because it features George McGovern himself, in his unsuccessful 1984 primary bid. (I'd also love to watch the primary debates from 1972 for the…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 1980 Republican Primary Debate (Bush v Reagan) 5 Apr 20205 Apr 2020 As bizarre as it may seem today, there were apparently no Republican primary debates held between the 1948 and 1980 cycles. I've done a lot of research on the topic…
Political Reactions My Reaction to the 1972 Democratic Primary Debate 5 Apr 20205 Apr 2020 This is the 1972 McGovern vs Humphrey debate from Face the Nation. This is chronologically the first of 3 debates I could find from the '72 cycle, after searching for…
Political Reactions My Reaction to the 1968 Democratic Primary Debate 5 Apr 20205 Apr 2020 This debate took place before the California Primary between Eugene McCarthy and Robert F Kennedy. I scoured the internet on and off for months to find footage of this, since…
Political Reactions My Reaction to the 1956 & 1960 Democratic Primary Debates 5 Apr 20205 Apr 2020 While the Kennedy v Nixon debate was the first televised debate of a general election, this primary debate came 4 years earlier. It was considered pretty dull, even at the…
Political Reactions My Reaction to the 1948 Republican Primary Debate 5 Apr 20205 Apr 2020 This is especially notable for being the first mass audience debate between prospective presidential candidates in US history. While it's true that Kennedy v Nixon was the first between general…
Political Reactions My Reaction to the Republican VP Nomination Acceptance Speeches (2/2) The Rest 20 Mar 2020 Here's a full playlist of every Republican VP Nominee's Convention Speech! Mike Pence (2016) I initially thought Mike Pence was an awful choice from a strategic point of view. I…
Political Reactions My Reaction to the Republican VP Nomination Acceptance Speeches (1/2) The Best 20 Mar 2020 I don't have as much to say about the VP convention speeches as I do their Presidential counterparts, so I'm just gonna combine these into two big posts, ranked in…
Political Reactions Clinton ’96 DNC Nomination Acceptance Speech Reaction 8 Mar 202027 Mar 2020 The '96 DNC is today probably best remembered for Al Gore doing the macarena. But Bill Clinton ended up giving another good if less inspired address. Something that's been unusual…
Political Reactions Clinton ’92 DNC Nomination Acceptance Speech Reaction 8 Mar 202027 Mar 2020 I love the way Clinton begins with an appropriate self-deprecating joke about his disastrous 1988 DNC speech. It's one quick line that alleviates any tension in the room and then…
Political Reactions JFK ’60 DNC Nomination Acceptance Speech Reaction 8 Mar 202027 Mar 2020 One thing about JFK's speech that stuck out to me immediately was the gratitude shown towards Adlai Stevenson. You really don't see that often in a convention speech; usually new…
Political Reactions Carter ’72 DNC Nomination Acceptance Speech Reaction 8 Mar 202027 Mar 2020 Something I'll give Carter credit for is that he walks through the crowd rather than from behind the stage to get to the speaking platform which in my opinion emphasizes…
Political Reactions Dukakis ’88 DNC Nomination Acceptance Speech Reaction 7 Mar 202027 Mar 2020 It may be nitpicking, but Dukakis has the most bland and uninterested expression up there at the podium. Maybe he just has the male equivalent of resting bitch face, but…
Political Reactions Carter ’80 DNC Nomination Acceptance Speech Reaction 7 Mar 202027 Mar 2020 Carter's second Acceptance Speech feels tired and half-hearted right out of the gate. While I wasn't a big fan of his “My name is Jimmy Carter, and I'm running for…
Political Reactions Mondale ’84 DNC Nomination Acceptance Speech Reation 7 Mar 202027 Mar 2020 Mondale's speech is punctuated by the Rocky soundtrack. One of the more cheesy and unusual choices for a campaign anthem I can recall. As for the speech…Mondale is one of…
Political Reactions LBJ ’64 DNC Nomination Acceptance Speech Analysis 7 Mar 202024 Mar 2020 LBJ has never been one of my favorite overall orators, but this is almost certainly his best speech. I'll start by making note of something I can't recall seeing in…
Political Reactions Truman ’48 DNC Nomination Acceptance Speech Reaction 7 Mar 202027 Mar 2020 You don't hear too much about Truman as a great speaker, but in my opinion he had a very pleasant cadence and tone to his voice at least in this…
Political Reactions Humphrey ’68 DNC Nomination Acceptance Speech Reaction 29 Feb 202027 Mar 2020 You'll see this alluded to in future political posts, but I personally am not a fan of Hubert Humphrey. I'm sure he was a noble civil servant and a nice…
Political Reactions My Reaction to the Farewell Speeches (2/2) The Rest 23 Feb 202023 Feb 2020 #7: LBJ Unlike his two predecessors, LBJ did not deliver a separate farewell address. Rather, he merged his final state of the Union and his farewell address into one speech.…
Political Reactions My Reaction to the Farewell Speeches (1/2) The Standouts 23 Feb 202023 Feb 2020 These are my thoughts on the Farewell Addresses, ordered from what I consider to be the best speech, down to my picks for the worst. It's important to note upfront…
Political Reactions My Reaction to Ford’s “Pardoning Nixon” Speech 22 Feb 202027 Mar 2020 Honestly, I'm really conflicted on how I feel about the action, but I have to admit the speech itself was magnificent even in its brevity. Where was this well spoken…
Political Reactions My Reaction to Carter’s “Crisis of Confidence” Speech 22 Feb 202027 Mar 2020 Carter's “Crisis of Confidence” speech, also commonly known as the Malaise speech. It was initially very popular, but after I believe it was a week or two later when he…
