Edwards is introducing Kerry. Very low-class speech; the guy is just making his pitch for 2008. Pathetic, undignified, and insipid. I think Edwards still believes he can win anything if he can just select a dumb enough jury.

Really, this is one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever seen from a losing candidate. It’s a freakin’ stump speech. Al Gore was a tower of class compared to this. Hey, Edwards–you lost. Thank your supporters, credit your opponent, and shut the hell up.

Kerry is better. “The outcome should be decided by voters, not a protracted legal process… It is now clear… there won’t be enough outstanding votes for us to win Ohio… and we cannot win the election.” To the point, no whining. Well done.

He’s thanking his family and supporters now, and handsomely. Again, well done.

This is a very nice speech thus far. As Steve noted above, much more human than Kerry is under campaign circumstances. He’s thanking some young kids who raised nickels and dimes for him. A little hokey, but those kids will remember it for the rest of their lives. Why not?

A little more Kerry-ish towards the end here, “I’ll never stop fighting for you.” Kerry’s Senate record doesn’t suggest that he’s fought a whole heck of a lot for anything other than getting elected, but still, I’ll cut him some slack, because this is nice: “In an American election, there are no losers… because the next morning, we all wake up as Americans.”

Kerry calls for less rancor, asks his supporters to ‘try and bridge the partisan gap.’ I doubt that many of them will listen, but it’s still a creditable request.

Meandering now, hitting stump-speech talking points. I’d have stopped before rattling off this stuff.

Wraps it up with (gasp!) “God bless America.”

All in all, a good show from John Kerry; a disgraceful performance from John Edwards.