When it comes to rounding out a circle, you can't do it much more gracefully than Kenyon College did today, asking John Kerry to be their graduation speaker and giving both John and Teresa honorary degrees. The 2004 election, in which, as most of us vividly remember, Kenyon students along with the residents of Gambier, Ohio waited as long as 11 hours in line in order to cast their votes, is a bond that unites Kerry and the school. That some 85% of those votes went to Kerry makes that bond even stronger.
Kerry prepared for the speech by inviting Kenyon alums from the DC area - of various political persuations - to come to his office and talk about the school. The result, webcast live by the school, was a speech that was warm, personal, and funny, and very enthusiastically received. Text here. I'll update if a video or audio link turns up. Kenyon promises video within a few days.
In the meanwhile, I'd like to add that anyone who insists on perpetuating the myth that Kerry is a wooden speaker just has not been paying attention.
[UPDATE]: The Kenyon speech is up now.
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