There was really only one speaker of note on the second day of Mock Con 2004. That speaker was the Ragin' Cajun, James Carville. And rage he did. Immediately upon stepping up to the podium, Carville whipped off his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves. And it's a good thing he did since his wild arm gesturing would have surely split the back of his shirt had his cuffs remained buttoned.
As far as Carville's message ... well, it was quite indicative of who Carville is. Carville is a political hired gun who operates by the Al Davis motto, "Just win, baby." Quite noticeably, intellectual honesty is not part of that motto. The driving force behind "It's the economy, stupid," spent a large portion of his address harping on the President's focus on the economy without really criticizing any particular Bush policy. At one point, Carville asked the audience, "Do you want to raise your children in an economy or in a society?" (I'm not sure exactly what that means, but if I really had to choose, I may pick an economy.) Another interesting switch for Carville was his emphasis on the need for truth telling in the Oval Office. I certainly concur with that point of view, but this is not the tune Carville was singing when he was propelling Slick Willy into the White House.
But as far as entertainment value goes, Carville did an excellent job playing to the college audience. Carville told the room that he graduated from LSU with a 4.0 -- in blood alcohol level, that is. Carville concluded his speech with a comment about how much pot he smoked in school. An interesting finish. Carville must have known that he was speaking to the #5 party school in America. It was certainly not a very dignified end, but it was true to the tone of Carville's raucus address.
