Advice to John Kerry

So far it's been a good convention, John. Nobody's acted out. There have been no crazy Dean howls. Americans might even think that the Democrats have gone to anger management school, as Arianna suggests in her latest column. Clinton gave a great speech. So did Gore. (I actually thought Gore's speech was better. He got off the best line of the convention so far:"Let's make sure not only that the Supreme Court does not pick the next President, but also that this President is not the one who picks the next Supreme Court.") And we can be sure John Edwards will deliver a good solid, inspiring speech.

But what about you? You're no crowd-pleaser, that's for sure. Not even the best speech writers in the world are going to turn you into Bill Clinton or Al Gore. You're no Ronald Reagan.

But that doesn't mean you can't succeed.

So what should you say? One point you need to hammer home. You've got to tell Americans that the enemy they face is Islamist terrorists and that you are angry about what they have done and what they plan to do. If you enrolled in Arianna's angry management class, forget what you learned when you get to the part in your speech about the terrorists. SHOW US YOU DESPISE THEM AND HATE THEM.

We know the Democrats hate George W. Bush. What we haven't seen is that Democrats also hate the terrorists who attacked the U.S. on 9-11--and who plan more attacks.

I'm deliberately keeping this memo short so you can go rewrite your speech. There's not much time left to get this right.