The Bush-Cheney campaign has been blasting Sen. John Kerry and the Democrats for months, claiming they are the “party of pessimism.” I thought it’d be nice to compare the men each party chose to represent them at their conventions.

The Democrats picked rising star Barack Obama to be the keynote speaker at the DNC. His speech was full of optimism, hope and the American dream. He talked about his hopefulness about “a brighter day” in America’s future under John Kerry’s leadership. Obama also spoke of how John Kerry will make this country safer, give people well-paying jobs and get health care for all Americans. He talked about bringing this country back together – The United States of America. His moving speech was truly one for the ages.

Compare that to the man the Republicans chose as their keynote, Sen. Zell Miller. Rather than talk about George Bush’s accomplishments and his plans for the future, he used the entirety of his speech to blast John Kerry. Though only three years ago he called John Kerry an “authentic American hero,” last Wednesday he repeated over and over that “(the Democrats) were wrong,” and that “no pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often than Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.” He then went on criticizing John Kerry for voting to cut defense spending, which were Dick Cheney’s proposals as secretary of defense (he forgot to mention that part). In his speech, he mentioned the word “Kerry” 17 times, and “Bush” only eight. Soon after his speech, he went on “Hardball” and got so angry he said “I wish we lived in the day where you could challenge a person to a duel,” to Chris Matthews. Sorry, Zell, but it’s not the year 1800 anymore.

So you tell me. Which one is the party of pessimism?

Francisco Melli-Huber

sophomore in engineering