Stumping...

So there I was playing Mah Jongg and listening to John Kerry give his victory speech in New Hampshire when I realized the crowd was chanting the
catchphrase Kerry was about to say next. This seems to show two things:

1. Kerry needs to write a new stump speech, or at least mix it up and give his speech in a different order once in a while. When your supporters are giving your speech for you, it seems to indicate that you have not said anything new lately.

2. I get the distinct impression he's not reaching anyone new. He has groupies who can sing along with every one of his songs, but this anticipatory chanting gives me the impression that these are the Deadheads that follow him around. I'd like to see how many new people are at his speeches.

Also, I'm not sure anyone has explained the concept of CNN to Kerry. I've inadvertently heard him give the same speech at least three times, and I'm not particularly paying attention to news coverage. Having "the stump speech" worked when a whistlestop tour actually occurred on a train, before coast-to-coast media coverage, when candidates had to bring the message to the people. Now, the 24-hour news networks follow candidates around like dogs follow a liver snap and broadcast any time they do anything interesting--and quite a bit of times when they aren't doing anything important. We've heard the stump speech when he gave it in Iowa. We need something new.