Kerry Throws Down the Gauntlet in NH

John Kerry threw down the gauntlet last night in NH and those who watched his speech at NH's Jefferson Jackson Dinner know exactly what I am talking about. The speaker was on fire, the crowd was couldn't get enough, the standing ovations just kept on coming. John Kerry fired away at the Bush administration and the GOP right out of the gate last night... "A lie, a lie, a lie, a lie. What we have in Washington is a house of lies, and in November, we need to clean house."

The Boston Globe reports, "Kerry, nurturing plans for a second presidential run, sought to recapture support among key Democratic activists last night by offering his strongest words yet on President Bush's Iraq policy."

From the look of the reaction in the house last night, when I watched the speech on C-Span, John Kerry did more than recapture the support. C-Span kept the cameras rolling on Kerry for a good 15 - 20 minutes after the speech and there were many who asked, "are you going to run?" There were the pleas --"Run again Senator -- we need you," or the reminders "I've still got your back!" Anyone who thinks Kerry doesn't have support on the ground is fooling themselves, or simply doesn't want to admit it. The video of the speech is available here(WM).

In his keynote address to the largest fund-raiser of the year for the Democratic Party in New Hampshire, the site of the nation's first presidential primary, Kerry accused Republicans of telling "lies" about the conditions in Iraq. He once again called for deadline to withdraw a majority of the troops.

"This war in Iraq is a disgrace," the Massachusetts Democrat said. "Set a deadline for Iraqis to run Iraq and bring our troops home."

On that line, Kerry received one of a dozen standing ovations he received during his 30-minute speech.

Read on here...