Will Zell backfire on the GOP?
From "Wolf Blitzer Reports" staff
CNN
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Talking about his own party Wednesday night, Democrat Zell Miller said, "Our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrats' manic obsession to bring down our commander in chief."
Talking about Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, Miller said, "This is the man who wants to be the commander in chief of our U.S. Armed Forces? U.S. Forces armed with what? Spit balls?"
Miller's keynote address to the Republican National Convention was a passionate and pointed attack.
"Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator. And nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators," Miller said.
His remarks came in sharp contrast to earlier convention speeches from moderate Republicans like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rudy Giuliani.
Miller's speech also had a very different tone from Barack Obama's more inclusive remarks during his keynote address to the Democratic convention.
"We are one people," Obama said, "All of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America. In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or do we participate in a politics of hope?"
Miller's red-meat speech was a feast for the Republican Party faithful gathered in Madison Square Garden.
But critics compared it to Pat Buchanan's "Cultural War" speech at the 1992 Republican convention, during which he said, "There is a religious war going on in this country. It is a cultural war, as critical as the kind of nation we shall be as the Cold War itself. But this war is for the soul of America."
Buchanan's 1992 speech was so angry it may have hurt the elder President Bush's chances at re-election.
Some say Miller's speech was equally angry and may hurt President George W. Bush's chances at re-election.
"I suspect that Zell Miller, maybe in addition to helping the president with conservative Democrats in border states, may have re-energerized Democrats who've had a tough week or two," says CNN political analyst Carlos Watson.
Miller himself dismisses such talk, including in an exchange Thursday with CNN's Wolf Blitzer:
Zell: Me, angry? No, no, not me. I'm sorry if I gave that impression.
Wolf: You seemed so angry, there are some suggestions the appearance could backfire for the cause you're promoting.
Zell: I'm sure some anchors will say that. That's what anchors do.
Upcoming polls may disclose whether Miller's speech had any unintended consequences. So far, though, Republicans show no sign of being worried.
At the opening of his speech last night, Vice President Dick Cheney said, "I'm sure glad Zell Miller's on our side."
