Impressions from the Faneuil Hall Speech

Yesterday, I traveled from NH, braving the Boston rush hour traffic to attend the speech given by Senator Kerry in Faneuil Hall. I was there in April for his "Dissention" speech but that was on a Saturday and this took place on a Monday, which not only made traveling to Boston a lot less fun, but led us to wonder how large a crowd would be assembled.

A group of us from DU gathered early to make sure we were all set to live blog the event. As circumstance would have it, connection problems made the live blog difficult, but we did end up with one decent connection. Since the transcript and video of the speech have been made public, this commentary is going to be one of personal observation.

If you have not already read the transcript or watched the video, please do. There were some very interesting points and proposals of interest to anyone who is committed to the environment and to changing our dependence on fossil fuels.

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Two months after Senator Kerry gave his speech on Dissention, he returned to Faneuil Hall in Boston to speak on the environment and energy independence. Following on the heels of the defeat in the Senate of the Kerry-Feingold Amendment, the attendance at this event was a good indication of a public that is tired of being told what they are supposed to think by our media.

While poll after poll has shown that the majority of Americans support a timeline for withdrawal of our troops from Iraq, Republican yowling, Democratic jockeying for position and media distortion have all but diminished that fact as irrelevant. But it is not irrelevant. As with Iraq, the opinions of the majority of Americans are being ignored on the subject of the environment, as well.

That Senator Kerry was able to draw such a large crowd on a weekday, on a subject that has been largely swept aside by a media that gave but ten seconds to Al Gore on climate change with the release of “An Inconvenient Truth”, indicates that people are concerned about our environment. The media may have moved on, but the people have not.

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Here are a few firsthand impressions of the event:


The crowd began filtering into the hall around twenty past eleven filling the seats on the floor. Led in first and seated up front were a group of around a dozen youngsters, who looked to be he Kids for Democracy (formerly the Kids for Kerry). They did not speak at the event, so perhaps these were actually just a group of children from a local school. In any case, it was heartening to see the respect with which these young people were treated. There was space made on the floor for handicapped access where two people in wheel chairs were seated. This is a very old building and the access isn’t the best, so it was touching to see that, despite the difficulty accessing the building via a long set of stairs presented, these people made the effort to attend.

The main floor and the “bleacher:” seats on the sides of the room filled quickly with people slowly filtering in to populate the balconies overlooking the hall. A few minutes before noon the announcement was made that the program was about to begin: “Everyone please take your seats.”

The crowd seemed to be a mix of ages and a good cross-section of Boston culture with everyone in good spirits and a sense of happy anticipation in the room. The balconies were not as packed as in April, but that had been on a Saturday and this was a Monday.

At two minutes till noon, the senator arrived with his wife Teresa and the other speakers of the day, a cute little 8-year-old recycler named Jesse Rogers and LCV environmentalist Deb Callahan.

Both the senator and his wife looked terrific, relaxed and happy. For the fashion conscious, the senator’s suit was navy, his shirt was light blue and his tie was pink. Teresa wore a dark navy blazer and summer white slacks. She looked fantastic: feminine, svelte and ageless.

Young Jesse was the first to speek and he talked briefly about recycling and how important the environment is. He said that he knew Senator Kerry cared about the environment, a sentiment that was echoed throughout the room. The young man was amazingly articulate and fearless in front of the large crowd. Senator Kerry grinned through his speech and you could see how impressed he was with the youngster.

Then Deb Callahan spoke. She said that the event was “carbon neutral” which brought a round of applause. Then she went on to talk about how Senator Kerry helped to organize the first Earth Day and right there in Massachusetts. She talked about John Kerry’s record in the senate and said that he’d had the best record of any of her colleagues, bar none. She mentioned his work to stop acid rain and discussed how he took the risky step of going so far to filibuster on ANWR, that time again Senator Kerry stopped big oil and that he’d always worked to stop special interests. She closed by reminding us that the Senator outlined a comprehensive energy plan during his campaign in 2004 and that this Washington was unlikely to produce any real solutions to our addiction to oil.

The senator then took the stage and immediately launched into a discussion of vote on Iraq. He wasted no time in connecting the war in Iraq and our future security to our being held hostage to foreign oil. It was a brilliant segway from war to the environment and it effectively linked the April speech and the one today as a continuation rather than an entirely different topic.

One of the highlights in his speech came when he said that Washington was full of “Flat Earth” politicians. This drew cheers and laughter. The “Flat Earth Caucus” is something that we will probably hear more of in coming months as the senator introduces his proposed legislation.

The three steps the senator outlined on global climate change and energy independence were concise and drew much sustained applause from the crowd.

One key word the senator used in this speech was “mandate.” He was adamant that we need to “require”, not “recommend”. Look for “mandate” and “require” to come up again as the senator takes this battle to the Senate.

This crowd listened carefully to what the senator proposed and was very responsive to the solutions and the legislation the senator outlined. There was considerable applause for all the serious points the senator discussed. This crowd was not a merely cheering section for the senator, as might be expected on his home turf, but a group of informed and conscientious citizens with genuine concern about these serious issues.

The applause and cheering was deafening when Senator Kerry paid homage to Al Gore stating that things would be much different today had Al Gore “not just been elected but inaugurated”.

It was interesting that the audience seemed to relate to the comment the senator made about how the Stone Age didn’t end because we ran out of stones. Instead of addressing the issue of peak oil, Senator Kerry took the stance that we need to stop depending on oil because we need to find something better. This was a very valid point: the issue shouldn’t be about how much oil we have left: the issue is that using oil is bad for us and we can create better technology for energy than depending on the archaic use of fossil fuels.

On paper this looks like a long speech, but it felt like a very short speech. The subject was interesting, well presented and the audience was very receptive.

Trying to leave after the speech was difficult for the senator as he was mobbed in true “rock star” fashion. True to form, he was patient and took the time to pose with adoring fans. He was reportedly the key attraction for a number of Japanese tourists who couldn’t believe their good fortune to encounter John Kerry (hat tip to Vektor who witnessed this).

All in all, this event seemed to draw a different crowd than the speech in April, which drew a large anti-war contingent. This crowd was less raucous, but very receptive. Judging by the points that were applauded loudest, this was an informed crowd, a crowd with knowledge and concern on the issues facing our country due to global warming and dependence on foreign oil. Boston, being a hub of educational institutions, this crowd likely included a considerable representation of local academia.

The response to the senator’s proposed legislation was encouraging.

Look for strong opposition in the Senate but huge support from the citizenry.

:)

Thnkyou so much for this.

What a nice post. I especially love the part about young Jesse.

For those who missed it on the other thread:

http://www.johnkerry.com/video/flash/062606_speech.html

I did miss the link as well as the speech. I attended his speech in April and didn't hear about this one until after it happened.

I got the announcement on the 19th, which was only a week before the event. The place was pretty packed too for such short notice.