Did anyone find it strange that President Jimmy Carter did not speak at the Democratic National Convention?
On Monday night, Carter was featured in a short video, and then was introduced. He and Roslyn appeared to warm applause. Then, they walked around the stage a bit and walked back off. I'm thinking, "What? Why didn't Jimmy Carter speak?"
It couldn't have been because of time. There were a lot of boring yo-yos who spoke at least a minute or two. No, either they didn't ask him, or he didn't want to, and I can't imagine that he didn't want to.
Wasn't Carter criticized for going off on Bush in Boston in 2004? Of course, that was a pretty good speech, but the Kerry folks didn't like it. Perhaps the Obama folks were worried about his message, about him coming across as too negative?
Posted by: Chris | August 31, 2008 at 06:10 AM
I think that's probably right. Jimmy's gotten somewhat waspish in his later years reminding me a lot of Elisha in Kings. Personally, I love this tendency of us old country folk because it can't be scripted by some media master.
Posted by: Frank Glenn | August 31, 2008 at 07:28 AM
Couldn't have been, Chris, since Obama vetted all speeches just as Kerry did in 2004. I've heard since posting that Carter was scrubbed because of his position in favor of palestinians. Too much blowback from the Israel lobby.
Posted by: John Petty | August 31, 2008 at 08:40 AM
And this after Carter came out early for Obama.
Posted by: lillianjane | September 02, 2008 at 01:00 PM
The palestinian angle is the one I've heard, which makes some sense. Still, I couldn't believe it. The guy sitting next to said, incredulously, "Carter's not going to speak?"
Posted by: John Petty | September 02, 2008 at 01:02 PM