Kerry wrote his own convention speech, Obama camp didn’t vet
By Jeremy P. Jacobs, PolitickerMA.com ReporterU.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Boston) addresses the DNC Convention in Denver: Getty Images Photo
U.S. Sen. John Kerry wrote all of his Wednesday primetime speech and the Obama campaign didn't vet it, PolitickerMA.com has learned.
Brigid O'Rourke, a spokeswoman for Kerry (D-Boston), told PolitickerMA.com Thursday that Kerry wrote the speech in its entirety and that there were no ghostwriters involved in the process. She also said that the speech was not vetted by Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama or his campaign team. The speech only had to adhere to a time limit, O'Rourke said, and it was submitted directly to the teleprompter team.
O'Rourke's remarks come at odds with news reports that the Obama campaign stepped up its efforts to control the content of convention addresses, carefully editing drafts other speakers. Some speeches, according to reports, have been completely rewritten by the campaign.
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O'Rouke's comments are not really at odds with the reports
It may simply indicate the level of trust they have with Senator Kerry. Unlike many other convention speakers, Kerry has been an incredible surrogate and advocate for Obama. He spoke mainly of national security and foreign policy - areas where Obama agrees with him. He also spoke of dissent and patriotism.
Kerry has spoken many times in the past arguing that dissent can be patriotic and that Democrats love the country too. The quotes defending dissent were nearly identical to what he said in the Dissent speech given in 2006 on the 35th anniversary of his Senate testimony.
The trust the Obama team had in Kerry was rewarded by this exceptional speech which the NYT called the best non-acceptance speech in a convention in 2 decades. http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/kerry-hits-it-home/?hp
It was also nice to see that Michelle Obama and Teresa Heinz Kerry watched the prime time speeches together.
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