Here’s everything you need to know about the speakers on the third night of the Democratic National Convention
Dick Durbin
You know him because: He is a U.S. senator from Illinois and assistant majority leader of the Senate.
He would like you to forget: Durbin had to apologize on the Senate floor for remarks he made comparing the techniques used at Guantanamo Bay to those used by the Nazis, the Soviets, and the Khmer Rouge.
Democrats love him because: He is the author of the original DREAM Act, his version allowing undocumented documents a path to legal status if they were brought to the United States as children, finished high school, and were attending college or serving in the military.
Republicans don’t like him because: He opposed the Iraq war, one of 23 senators voting against its authorization, and continued to be one of its most vocal critics.
John Kerry
You know him because: He is a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, the chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Democrats’ 2004 presidential nominee.
He doesn’t want you to remember: Kerry was accused of insulting troops with what he later called a “botched joke” he made in 2006: “Education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”
Democrats love him because: As a decorated military veteran, Foreign Relations Committee chair, and rumored to be on the list of possible replacements for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Kerry can highlight Obama’s national security and foreign policy successes.
Republicans don’t like him because: Though he initially supported it, Kerry became one of the staunchest critics of the Iraq war. It is also John Kerry who first put Obama on the national stage, tapping him as keynote speaker at 2004’s Democratic convention. read more…
