Clinton is an effective speaker. But his reputation for political masterfulness comes from times of peace. To the extent that this speech was effective, it is because a lot of people want to wish away the war on terrorism. Only in that context can a promise to work more cooperatively with other nations be a sufficient platform–or can it really be pretended that the worry about Kerry is that he is too wise. The insinuation is that Republicans consider wisdom weak–but you could just as easily suggest that Democrats consider weakness wise.