{"id":4577,"date":"2004-10-09T18:16:21","date_gmt":"2004-10-09T18:16:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com.108-166-28-151.mdgnetworks.com\/wordpress\/?p=4577"},"modified":"2013-04-05T18:17:24","modified_gmt":"2013-04-05T18:17:24","slug":"the-friday-night-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-friday-night-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"The Friday Night Fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

“I Have A Plan”<\/em>–on and on and on…<\/h1>\n

by Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n

Private\u00a0<\/em>Papers<\/em><\/p>\n

J<\/strong>ohn Kerry proved tonight that he is a steady, glib, and adept debater who offers a fare of wonkish, comprehensive answers\u00a0ad nauseam<\/i>\u00a0that can awe an off-guard opponent buried beneath facts, Clinton-like instant recall, and classical Ciceronian rhetorical skills. Indeed, we saw all that in the first debate against a dazed George Bush.<\/p>\n

But by now Kerry is beginning to wear poorly, especially against a spirited and engaged candidate\u2014such as George Bush revealed himself tonight as an opponent full of passion, ideals, and fight. As the night wore on Bush seemed the more human, the more real, Kerry the Boston Brahmin\u2014smug, sanctimonious, self-righteous, and ponderous. Where Bush seemed genuine and vulnerable, Kerry appeared peeved, fussy, and smart-alecky.<\/p>\n

Kerry ended almost every one of his shotgun blasts of facts and figures with \u201cI have a plan\u201d\u2014though no plan was ever detailed or discussed, mostly because his proposals entail ceding American flexibility to international censure and sanction, and government as the first rather than the second or third recourse to solve social problems. A growing number of Americans is increasingly worried about that doctrinaire liberal worldview and precisely in anticipation of that fact we get the vague \u201cI have a plan\u201d whose details would bother if not frighten most Americans.<\/p>\n

Pundits will harp that Kerry was adept at masking his liberalism, Bush missing key chances to remind the American public that Kerry had voted against the first Gulf War and was a virtual pacifist during a mediocre 20-year Senate career. Maybe, maybe not. But Bush held his own against an accomplished debater, and proved himself the more human and honest\u2014and that will finally make all the difference in the world.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a92004 Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“I Have A Plan”–on and on and on… by Victor Davis Hanson Private\u00a0Papers John Kerry proved tonight that he is a steady, glib, and adept debater who offers a fare of wonkish, comprehensive answers\u00a0ad nauseam\u00a0that can awe an off-guard opponent buried beneath facts, Clinton-like instant recall, and classical Ciceronian rhetorical skills. Indeed, we saw all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[797],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1bP","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3764,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/kerryism\/","url_meta":{"origin":4577,"position":0},"title":"Kerryism","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 5, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online Kerry surely must be one of the saddest Democratic liabilities around. Some afterthoughts about his latest gaffe, which is one of those rare glimpses into an entire troubled ideology: (1) How could John Kerry, born into privilege, and then marrying and divorcing and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "November 2006"","block_context":{"text":"November 2006","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2006\/november-2006\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4597,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/a-futile-foreign-policy\/","url_meta":{"origin":4577,"position":1},"title":"A Futile Foreign Policy","author":"victorhanson","date":"September 19, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Magazine This essay appeared in the September 7, 2004\u00a0National Review Magazine. John Kerry is worried about his record of support for gay unions, abortion-on-demand, and other hot-button liberal causes that rile moderate swing voters outside of New England. One way to counteract the image\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "September 2004"","block_context":{"text":"September 2004","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2004\/september-2004\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4554,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/allow-george-w-bush-to-finish-the-job\/","url_meta":{"origin":4577,"position":2},"title":"Allow George W. Bush to Finish the Job","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 2, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"In war, the last campaigns are the bloodiest. by Victor Davis Hanson Wall Street Journal A shorter version of this essay appeared in the\u00a0Wall Street Journal. In singular moments in our history, the security of the United States hinged on a single presidential election. Imagine George McClellan recognizing an undefeated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "November 2004"","block_context":{"text":"November 2004","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2004\/november-2004\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4567,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/kerrys-dilemma\/","url_meta":{"origin":4577,"position":3},"title":"Kerry’s Dilemma","author":"victorhanson","date":"October 22, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Or, how to lose and election by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online There is a good chance that no matter what Kerry says or does in the final two weeks of this election \u2014 barring some major catastrophe in Iraq, a presidential gaffe, or massive voting irregularity \u2014 he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "October 2004"","block_context":{"text":"October 2004","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2004\/october-2004\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5320,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/four-months-in-vietnam\/","url_meta":{"origin":4577,"position":4},"title":"Four Months in Vietnam","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 27, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Or how to misdirect public attention. by Bruce S. Thornton Private Papers Everyone knows magicians use misdirection to make their illusions work. While one hand distracts us the other is pulling the egg or coin from its hiding place. Politics is no different, as the Kerry campaign and its shills\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bruce S. Thornton"","block_context":{"text":"Bruce S. Thornton","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/bruce-s-thornton\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3697,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-ugly-american\/","url_meta":{"origin":4577,"position":5},"title":"The Ugly American","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 5, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic candidate for president, is at it again with another rude gaffe, this one providing an unintended glimpse of the way many contemporary\u00a0cosmopolitan elites characterize their homeland when abroad. In the past, Kerry has said that our soldiers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "February 2007"","block_context":{"text":"February 2007","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2007\/february-2007\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4577"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4577"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4578,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4577\/revisions\/4578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}