# Zell Miller Speaks From the Heart **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 2, 2004, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700 "2004-09-02T02:20:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/1 "2004-09-02T02:20:42Z")
He’s retiring. He’s a Democrat. I have to believe that what he said tonight came from the heart, not calculated for his political advantage. But I wish I could vote for him. After that speech, I would. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/2 "2004-09-02T02:23:53Z")
That was a very well-spoken gentleman up there. Not a half-bad speaker, either. Hard to see what he would gain from this speech, so I’d have to agree. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/3 "2004-09-02T02:24:56Z")
Didn’t see the speech but I’ve read a few of his fawning pieces regarding George Bush on the Wall Street Journal editorial page over the past few years from which I can safely conclude that Zell Miller is an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/4 "2004-09-02T02:35:32Z")
From the [N.Y. Times text of his speech](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/01/politics/campaign/01TEXT-MILLER.html?pagewanted=2): > [@](#): > > He is not a slick talker but he is a straight shooter and, where I come from, deeds mean a lot more than words. Does this guy even read and know what’s going on?!?! What freakin’ planet does he live on? ---
**Author:** ![Dio2112](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Dio2112](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dio2112)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/5 "2004-09-02T02:37:09Z")
I think a lot of people fell off the fence with that speech. Hard to find any criticisms with the pacing, forcefulness, language, and delivery. If Bush was my man, I’d say it was a great speech. Ah hell, it _was_ a great speech. Of course it was a one note speech: Bush is the defender of your children, with steely resolve to kick ass. Kerry is a pussy, a dangerous man to your family. But I gather that’s all he was asked to say. Currently watching Cheney kill the whole vibe. ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/6 "2004-09-02T02:37:57Z")
What a grumpy old man. He looked angry the entire time he was up there, and was just plain hateful. It’s like he was a charicature of an old man ranting about how kids these days don’t respect anyone, and he knows best, we’re going to hell in a handbasket, etc. I wish I could vote against him. ---
**Author:** ![AZCowboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/97f17d/32.png) [@AZCowboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AZCowboy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/7 "2004-09-02T02:40:01Z")
Zig Zag Zell is no idiot. Bitter and disillusioned would be more descriptive. ---
**Author:** ![Eric\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de0a6/32.png) [@Eric\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric_II)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/8 "2004-09-02T02:46:27Z")
Please, I don’t understand one word of German. What the fuck did Miller say? COUGH/nazi/Cough ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/9 "2004-09-02T02:47:02Z")
His voice gave me the creeps. It was like listening to Falwell talk about Jay-zus. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/10 "2004-09-02T02:52:31Z")
I read his book. The speech pretty much accurately reflects what he’s been thinking for a long time. This is a man who believes deeply that the Democratic Party cannot be trusted to defend America, as it once could. This is deeply troubling to him. Agree or disagree, the man came to this conclusion honestly. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/11 "2004-09-02T02:54:33Z")
I think his speech was a miscalculation by the Republicans. It reminded me of Buchanan in 1992, which turned off more potential voters than it brought in, so the conventional wisdom was at the time. I thought his being tethered to the teleprompter had the unfortunate (for him and the Republicans) effect of making him appear particularly beady-eyed and shifty. Frankly I was glad that Miller gave the speech he did. I think it will ultimately help Kerry. Perhaps some of the pundits are right, and the Republicans figure that they can win by solidifying and energizing their base. This speech would have done that, but I think it will turn off moderates and push away undecideds. Thanks, Zell. Now go Cheney yourself. ---
**Author:** ![AZCowboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/97f17d/32.png) [@AZCowboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AZCowboy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/12 "2004-09-02T03:00:48Z")
And btw, this [Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A30173-2004Mar27?language=printer) story makes it sound like Kerry’s campaign came up with “Zig Zag Zell”. Ain’t so. It was developed by one of his previous campaign adversaries. He came by it honestly. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/13 "2004-09-02T03:05:03Z")
I think the GOP got a better trade: Zell Miller for Ron Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![Dio2112](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Dio2112](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dio2112)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/14 "2004-09-02T03:06:43Z")
Don’t forget that a great many Americans still conflate the war on terror with the war on iraq. Even a great many undecideds. Zell’s speech was hardcore. The most forceful attempt at polarization thru appeals to militance and fear that I’ve witnessed in this campaign. I think it was effective in that regard. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/15 "2004-09-02T03:07:08Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > This is a man who believes deeply that the Democratic Party cannot be trusted to defend America, as it once could. This is deeply troubling to him. This may be true…But, it is sort of a sin of omission. It is not like Zell has broken with the Dems over just this one issue. He has just completely broken with them on just about everything. He supports Bush tax cuts and wants to make the permanent. His League of Conservation Voters ratings for the second session of the 107th Congress (2002) and the first session of the 108th Congress (2003) were 6% and 0%. His American Conservative Union rating in 2003 was 75% and at least some if not all of the things he broke with them on, like the prescription drug plan, were still voting in support of Bush. He may think that the Democrats have somehow dramatically changed in the last few years and abandoned him…But that notion is whacked! Hell, he has even abandoned the bipartisan center, voting against the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Bill for example. There are people like this who are just not politically stable. Wasn’t Bork once practically a socialist and then a libertarian before becoming an authoritarian conservative? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/16 "2004-09-02T03:14:27Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > I read his book. The speech pretty much accurately reflects what he’s been thinking for a long time. > > This is a man who believes deeply that the Democratic Party cannot be trusted to defend America, as it once could. This is deeply troubling to him. > > Agree or disagree, the man came to this conclusion honestly. Are you suggesting that he came to his political conclusions any more honestly than anyone else, say for example, John Kerry? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/17 "2004-09-02T03:36:36Z")
Was he speaking from the heart, with his hard won honest convictions, when he said this in 2001: > [@Zell](#): > > My job tonight is an easy one: to present to you one of this nation’s authentic heroes, one of this party’s best-known and greatest leaders – and a good friend. > > He was once a lieutenant governor – but he didn’t stay in that office 16 years, like someone else I know. It just took two years before the people of Massachusetts moved him into the United States Senate in 1984. > > In his 16 years in the Senate, John Kerry has fought against government waste and worked hard to bring some accountability to Washington. > > Early in his Senate career in 1986, John signed on to the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Bill, and he fought for balanced budgets before it was considered politically correct for Democrats to do so. > > John has worked to strengthen our military, reform public education, boost the economy and protect the environment. Business Week magazine named him one of the top pro-technology legislators and made him a member of its “Digital Dozen.” > > John was re-elected in 1990 and again in 1996 – when he defeated popular Republican Governor William Weld in the most closely watched Senate race in the country. > > John is a graduate of Yale University and was a gunboat officer in the Navy. He received a Silver Star, Bronze Star and three awards of the Purple Heart for combat duty in Vietnam. He later co-founded the Vietnam Veterans of America. > > He is married to Teresa Heinz and they have two daughters. > > As many of you know, I have great affection – some might say an obsession – for my two Labrador retrievers, Gus and Woodrow. It turns out John is a fellow dog lover, too, and he better be. His German Shepherd, Kim, is about to have puppies. And I just want him to know … Gus and Woodrow had nothing to do with that. > Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Senator John Kerry. [From Zell’s heart, I stab at thee](http://miller.senate.gov/speeches/030101jjdinner.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/18 "2004-09-02T03:42:32Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > I think his speech was a miscalculation by the Republicans. It reminded me of Buchanan in 1992, which turned off more potential voters than it brought in, so the conventional wisdom was at the time. > > I thought his being tethered to the teleprompter had the unfortunate (for him and the Republicans) effect of making him appear particularly beady-eyed and shifty. > > Frankly I was glad that Miller gave the speech he did. I think it will ultimately help Kerry. Perhaps some of the pundits are right, and the Republicans figure that they can win by solidifying and energizing their base. This speech would have done that, but I think it will turn off moderates and push away undecideds. > > Thanks, Zell. Now go Cheney yourself. Yah, the Southern Democrats really hate Zell. :rolleyes: If the Dems have any other speakers from their last convention I think we can work them in. We’ve run out of newly elected Republican Governors from large Democratic states so I guess we’ll have to make some more. ---
**Author:** ![cheddarsnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cheddarsnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cheddarsnax)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/19 "2004-09-02T03:44:40Z")
Zell Miller’s post-speech appearance on Hardball was an unmitigated disaster for Zell and the Republican Party. Miller went completely unhinged; select quotes: “I’m not gonna take this!” “I wanna get in your face!” “I think we oughta cancel this interview!” “You’re hopeless.” “Get outta my face!” “I wish we lived in the day where you could challenge a person to a duel!” The focus tonight was supposed to be Cheney. He is, after all, the vice president. But the focus is now on Zell Miller. However, the speech itself may have been effective, at least for some. While his Democratic credentials are suspect at best, he is still presented as one, and when he speaks strongly against Kerry as a Democrat, I think it really does convince people. Especially as emotionally as he did. Give it a few days at we’ll see how it turns out… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700/20 "2004-09-02T03:48:27Z")
I would really like to post a counter to each and every bald faced lie Szell spewed tonight. But we’ll have to arrange some kind of tag team, I can’t type more than about six pages without more crank… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zell-miller-speaks-from-the-heart/262700.md?page=2)