BOSTON – The Democratic National Convention closed Thursday with a spirited call to arms from the party's standard bearer — John Kerry — and a whole lot more. Check out the best of the convention's final day by clicking on the highlighted words below.
Kerry kicked off his speech with a salute and a catchphrase: "I'm John Kerry and I'm reporting for duty." During a convention where "Bush bashing" was discouraged, Kerry broke away and gave the week's strongest denunciation of the Bush administration. Kerry transcript.
In case you're interested, Kerry wrote the speech himself in long-hand on a legal pad.
The running mate — John Edwards — spent the day basking in the praise from his Wednesday night speech and visiting with state delegations to tout Kerry's virtues.
Introducing a film about the presidential nominee were Kerry's two daughters and one of his wife's sons, who have been thrust into the spotlight by his candidacy.
And then, to introduce the candidate himself, a group of Kerry's fellow sailors who fought with him in Vietnam had the honors.
The night had other speakers. Click on their names to read transcripts of their remarks: one-time rivals to Kerry for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Joseph Lieberman and retired Gen. Wesley Clark; plus Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
To catch up on the full day's big story, check out stories by FOXNews.com's Liza Porteus talking about Kerry's day before his speech, the parade of Democrats who spoke before the nominee, and finally Kerry's big speech.
Now to the other stories produced by the FOXNews.com team:
Al Gore, the Democrat who tried and failed to become president four years ago, spoke to the convention on Monday, but his ghost was still clearly felt on Thursday. Peter Brownfeld talked to Democrats who are still smarting from how Gore handled his 2000 campaign.
Another group of Democrats — Southerners or "red state delegates" — spoke to Kelley Beaucar Vlahos about their message to the ticket: Don't forget about us!
Kelley also was put on the celebrity beat. Why were all those Hollywood types in Boston? And just what did they think they were accomplishing?
Democrats succeeded in stripping most of the controversy or confrontation from the convention. Even for some Dems who want George W. Bush out of the White House, this scrubbing was too much.
Outside the convention hall, protesters finally got the chance to make some news after days of relative peace and calm. Demonstrators burned a U.S. flag and a two-faced effigy depicting Bush on one side and Kerry on the other. Still, the protest scene was fairly tame as Peter Brownfeld found that demonstrators are saving their fire for the GOP convention in New York.
Now what for Kerry and Edwards? Don't expect to see any campaign ads from the Democratic campaign for the next month as the campaign saves up to match the Bush-Cheney camp on the air after Labor Day.
For his part, Bush has stayed out of the limelight, as he spent the week at his Texas ranch. He returned to Washington on Thursday and is ready to hit the campaign trail again Friday. The Republicans in Boston were represented by Rudy Giuliani, who said Democrats were running away from Kerry's record.
Miss any of the big speeches or want to watch them again? Click here to see them for free. And if you want a refresher on what happened during the three other days of the convention, check out FOXNews.com's handy highlights for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
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