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I've received some exclusive video of the late, great Sen. Ted Kennedy right before his passing, discussing his family, life and career in politics. This interview was recorded in conjunction with the release of his new book: "True Compass".
You can also buy it here.

Via email:

Click here to read an excerpt from True Compass that details the months leading up to Senator Kennedy's speech to the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

As usual, he is impressive. He says he's never shied away from being called a liberal because that's what he was. Now that's an example to follow.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

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I've been watching Ted Kennedy since I was a kid and have many memories of him giving speeches -- some great, some not so great. But my favorites may have been his speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver last summer, even when we knew he was dying of brain cancer.

I especially remember these lines:

For me this is a season of hope -- new hope for a justice and fair prosperity for the many, and not just for the few -- new hope.

And this is the cause of my life -- new hope that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American -- north, south, east, west, young, old -- will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege.

It's sad that he didn't live to see a health-care reform bill finally pass. In his memory, in honor of his service, and in the name of everything he stood for, we need to pass it more than ever.

Just because Carl Cameron of FOX repeats John McCain talking points does not make them true.

Here's the DNC response:

"American flags were proudly waved by the 75,000 people who joined Barack Obama at the Democratic Convention. John McCain should applaud that, but instead his supporters wrongfully took leftover bundles of our flags from the stadium to play a cheap political stunt calling into question our patriotism. On the same day he agrees to join Barack Obama at Ground Zero on September 11, John McCain attacks the patriotism of Obama supporters who so proudly waved the American flag at our historic event in Denver just days ago."
---DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney.

I'm really shocked they didn't find lapel pins too....

Q: How do you know Obama's speech was well-received?

A: Pat Buchanan can't shut up about how much he loved it.

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BUCHANAN: "I stand with Obama! It was a genuinely outstanding speech, it was magnificent. I saw Cuomo's speech, I saw Kennedy in '80, I even saw Douglas MacArthur, I saw MLK; this is the greatest convention speech and probably the most important because unlike Cuomo and the others, this was an acceptance speech, this came out of the heart of America, and he went right at the heart of America. This wasn't a liberal speech at all. This is a deeply, deeply centrist speech. It had wit, it had humor, and when he used the needle on McCain, he stuck it into McCain and it was funny. It was Kennedy's speech in '80. I laughed with Kennedy when he was needling Ronald Reagan."

  Barack Obama dismantles piece by piece the Republican "judgment" attack with the quote of the night.

The record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.

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Full transcript below:

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  The McCain campaign's pathetic response to Obama's amazing speech tells you one thing: they have no idea how to respond. Tom Brokaw mocks the response and Chuck Todd wonders how the GOP is going to top the Democratic Convention and how McCain is possibly going to top Obama.

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"The McCain campaign, their response seemed to be that they might has well have been speechless. They didn't know how to react to this speech. They could have written that response before the speech even started. They don't know how to react to this speech. Maybe they were focus-grouping at the time and it focus grouped very well. Whatever the response was, they don't know how to react to this just yet. One more point: The 2 conventions,  normally you want to go second, but this is the first time we had back to back conventions like this and I tell ya, I don't know if the Republican Party really is looking forward to having to follow this show. because as a political show, this is gonna be hard to top, not just next week, but four or eight years from now."

McCain's response:

“Tonight, Americans witnessed a misleading speech that was so fundamentally at odds with the meager record of Barack Obama,” spokesman Tucker Bounds said. “When the temple comes down, the fireworks end, and the words are over, the facts remain: Senator Obama still has no record of bipartisanship, still opposes offshore drilling, still voted to raise taxes on those making just $42,000 per year, and still voted against funds for American troops in harm’s way. The fact remains: Barack Obama is still not ready to be President.”

Of course the McCain campaign doesn't know how to respond. All they know how to do is attack attack attack. Barack Obama's speech wasn't just well-delivered and well-written; It was a generational call to arms. It was a bio wrapped in an attack ad wrapped in a policy speech wrapped in a vision for America's future. He spoke to the concerns of average Americans and how he plans to address them. He painted McCain as the chief enabler of the Bush legacy and status quo of Washington, while offerring a genuinely different path for the country.

Obama just elevated the debate. The question remains whether or not McCain will rise to the occassion or continue the Karl Rove politics of old. My bet is on the latter. St Paul is gonna be a blast.

  Barack Obama goes right at the heart of McCain's campaign strategy and completely destroys it.

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The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.

So I’ve got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.

Full transcript below:

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  DNC Chairman Howard Dean appeared on The Daily Show Wednesday night and got in a not-so-subtle dig at John McCain's age.

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Dean: "Is there a delay [in the audio feed] here? I think there's a delay. It's like inside John McCain's brain."

  After Joe Biden's ferocious speech about John McCain's poor judgment on national security issues, presumptive nominee Barack Obama dropped by to thank his wife, Hillary, and Bill for all their support and rousing speeches, and promised to make tomorrow night a memorable one.

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 "I think the convention has gone pretty well so far. What do you think? I think Michelle Obama kicked it off pretty well, don't you think? If I'm not mistaken, Hillary Clinton rocked the house last night. And just in case you were wondering, I think President Bill Clinton reminded us of what it's like when you've got a President who puts people first. Thank you, President Clinton."

  Joe Biden takes the fight over "judgment" straight to McCain, arguing that time after time, on issues after issue, John McCain has been wrong and Barack Obama has been right.

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Now, despite being complicit in this catastrophic foreign policy, John McCain says Barack Obama isn’t ready to protect our national security. Now, let me ask you: whose judgment should we trust? Should we trust John McCain’s judgment when he said only three years ago, “Afghanistan we don’t read about it anymore because it’s succeeded? Or should we trust Barack Obama, who more than a year ago called for sending two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan?

The fact is, al-Qaida and the Taliban — the people who actually attacked us on 9/11 — have regrouped in those mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan and are plotting new attacks. And the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff echoed Barack’s call for more troops.

John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.

Full transcript below the fold:

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  John Kerry tears the "myth of a maverick" to shreds by calling McCain out on every single one of his inconsistencies and flip-flops.

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I have known and been friends with John McCain for almost 22 years, but every day now I learn something new about Candidate McCain. To those who still believe in the myth of a maverick instead of the reality of a politician, I say let's compare Senator McCain to Candidate McCain.

Candidate McCain now supports the very wartime tax cuts that Senator McCain once called irresponsible. Candidate McCain criticizes Senator McCain's own climate change bill. Candidate McCain says he would vote against the immigration bill that Senator McCain wrote.

Are you kidding me, folks?

"Before he ever debates Barack Obama, he should finish the debate with himself."

All I have to say is: Where was this guy in 2004?

Full transcript below the fold:

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Questions answered.

My fellow Democrats, I say to you: Barack Obama is ready to lead America and to restore American leadership in the world.

Barack Obama is ready to honor the oath, to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States.

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The contrast between the Clinton legacy and the Bush/McCain legacy is just devastating:

People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.

Look at the example the Republicans have set.

In this decade, American workers have consistently given us rising productivity. That means, year after year, they work harder and produce more.

Now, what did they get in return? Declining wages, less than one-fourth as many new jobs as in the previous eight years, smaller health care and pension benefits, rising poverty, and the biggest increase in income inequality since the 1920s. American families by the millions are struggling with soaring health care costs and declining coverage.

Full transcript below:

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  In an incredibly unifying and symbolic moment during the New York state delegate roll call, Senator Hillary Clinton asks for a suspension of the vote and requests the nomination of Barack Obama by acclamation. RIP "Democratic Disunity" meme.

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"With eyes firmly fixed on the future, in the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory, with faith in our party and our country, let's declare together, in one voice, right here, right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our President. Madame Secretary, I move that the convention suspend the procedural rules and suspend the further conduct of the roll cal vote -- all votes cast by the delegates will be counted -- and I move Senator Barack Obama of Illinois be sleceted by this convetion by acclamation as the nominee of the democtaric party for president of the United States."

Senator Bob Casey came out swinging Tuesday night and landed a few direct hits on the jaws of the "Bush-McCain Republicans."

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"John McCain calls himself a maverick, but he votes with George Bush 95% of the time. That's not a maverick. That's a sidekick."

"The Bush-McCain Republicans inherited the strongest economy in history and drove it into a ditch. They cut taxes on the wealthiest of us, and passed the pain to the least of us.  They ran up the debt gave huge subsidies to oil companies and now they're asking for four more years? How bout four more months."

There's something about the camera zoom and the way he says "that's a sidekick" that just cracks me up.

Devilstower at dKos has a great graphic.

The message Tuesday night couldn't have been clearer: The time has come to put the primaries behind us and support the Democratic nominee for President. As Senator Clinton makes abundantly clear, our country simply cannot afford "four more years of the last eight years."

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Now, John McCain is my colleague and my friend. He has served our country with honor and courage. But we don't need four more years . . . of the last eight years.

More economic stagnation ...and less affordable health care.

More high gas prices ...and less alternative energy.

More jobs getting shipped overseas ...and fewer jobs created here.

More skyrocketing debt ...home foreclosures ...and mounting bills that are crushing our middle class families.

More war . . . less diplomacy.

More of a government where the privileged come first ...and everyone else comes last.

John McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound. John McCain doesn't think that 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatize Social Security. And in 2008, he still thinks it's okay when women don't earn equal pay for equal work.

With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart.

Hillary did everything she came to do Tuesday night, and she did it with sincerity and style. She acknowledged her incredible, historic run and many diehard supporters, while drawing a clear contrast between the policies of Obama/Clinton and those of Bush/McCain. She came to convincingly make the case to all her holdouts that Obama is the only candidate in this race who will fight for their values. And she succeeded wildly. Bravo.

Full transcript below:

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