Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

Kerry in a hostile environment

Ryan Lizza, The New Republic:

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...Beneath the polite applause, this was a hostile audience. At the blackjack tables and on the buffet lines here at the Las Vegas Hilton, when conversations turned to the presidential candidates, Kerry often came in for withering criticism. One Guardsman waiting for a lunchtime table at the hotel's Mexican restaurant told a joke abut Kerry visiting an Indian reservation. The senator is given the nickname "running eagle." He isn't told that it refers to a bird so full of crap that it can't fly. A story swapped this week was that the last time Kerry attended a Guard conference was in 1971. "He was a demonstrator and threw blood and called us baby killers," I overheard a Guardsman tell a colleague. On an elevator ride I heard the same story from a Massachusetts Guardsman. "The last time he was here was 1971 when he was protesting and called all Guardsman draft dodgers and baby killers," he said. A colleague replied, "I can't believe he's showing up. He must think we have really short memories." (As far as I can tell the story isn't true.)

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...Some Democrats speculated Bush's appearance might prove embarrassing because of the media frenzy over his own Guard record. But the opposite happened. The audience provided cover for Bush. "Nineteen individuals have served both in the Guard and as President of the United States," he said, "and I am proud to be one of them." Standing ovation.

The author goes on to say that Bush delivered several applause lines, but Kerry told the truth while the audience sat on their hands. It probably did not occur to him that the audience did not believe what Kerry was saying was the truth, but applauded Bush becase they thought he was speaking the truth. Sometimes liberals have trouble reading a hostile environment.