The Speech
by KevinAugust 29th, 2008
That was a remarkable speech. Obama, deliberately by all appearances, turned down some of the flowing rhetoric and attacked McCain and the Republicans for their failures of the last eight years. He made a fullthroated defense of progressivism and full-throated attack on conservatism as it has been practied in the last eight years. He went directly after the GOP character assassination tactics and treated them with the contempt they deserve. He talked about programs and policies and specific issues. He gave us red meat and post-partisanship. He gave us his own biography and the stories of the people he intends ot help. And he did all of it while sounding more Presidential than perhaps any person in my adult lifetime.
And, most importantly, for the first time in my adul lifetime, the Democratic nominee for President spoke in clear and strong terms about progressive ideals and progressive change. For the first time since, perhaps, 1980, the Democratic Party as an institution is committed to progressive goals. Not a bad speech, not a bad night, and not a bad place to be.
Throughout the convention, there was an excess of religiosity. I never heard anything about separation of Church and State, and unless I missed it, it wasn’t in Obama’s speech, either. The demolition of Jefferson’s wall has been one of the Bush administration’s major trangressions.
All of that may have been necessary to win this election, but I’m disturbed by the omission nonetheless.
There were a number of outstanding moments during the convention, and it’s encouraging to see the Dem’s drawing clear distinctions between their program and that of the Republican’s. Obama’s approach to foreign policy is far and above preferable to McCain’s continuation of the Bush/Cheney/Rove policies of the last eight years. I’m not as comfortable with his stances on the death penaly and gun control, and if he plans to institute some sort of health program, it makes more sense to have mandatory health insurance in insure viability, but that’s just me. The real key will be his appeal to the independents, as they will decide what appears to be another very tight election. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed.
Overall, I was very pleased with the convention. Good speeches, well written and well delivered. I wish Wes Clark had a role, but other than that, I’m quite satisfied.
McCain seems to have really stepped down to pick Palin as VP. Yikes. Is the Republican bench that weak? Can you imagine a foreign policy debate between Palin and Biden.
I’d like to see a timeline showing what Biden was doing in Congress when Palin was doing beauty contests. I think it would make fora fun ad. Not by the main campaign, but by some youtube whiz.
I agree with Janusz, this will be a tight election. especxially if the media continues to get distracted by “greek temples” and “Obama is too popular to be effective” and other equally absurd memes coming out of the GOP playbook.
I’m amazed how many times the word “give” popped up. I was hoping it was a Freudian slip, but I guess this sort of reaction — that it was a “fullthroated defense of progressivism” — tells me exactly the state of the Democratic progressive movement.
He’s going to “give” teachers support, “give” veteran’s care. You’d think they would have earned it. He and his wife were “given” a chance at education. I know they both earned it. Republicans “give” to the rich and richer?
That’ll get to the middle-ground for sure.
Good speech, otherwise, although with Obama that’s pretty much a given. I think you’re reading more out of it than is reasonable (we should have different gun laws for Cleveland and rural Ohio, all six miles it takes to get from one to the other?), but brushing statements are normal for a convention speech, and he covered what he need to quickly and without too many spare words. Very strong word usage in most cases. Vague, again, but it was good to ‘hear’ something better on nuclear than his previous “regulate the crap out of it”, even if it really means regulate the crap out of it anyway.
If it weren’t for Palin, Obama would be getting smacked a bit for taking the truth a little further than reality would like (2000 USD decrease in average salary? 10 years to get rid of foreign oil dependence? Really? I’ve got a bridge to sell you if you believe that), and basically handing Republicans a bit more ammo than necessary, but as it is he’s doing surprisingly well. That speech really should keep the harder left people interested.
Can’t say for sure without seeing her in action, but the ‘best’ case scenario would involve Biden browbeating someone that looks like a librarian. I do not see that as a good plan. He’ll have to pull punches, and combined with his usually absolutist viewpoint (especially with Obama’s stances), that’s going to hurt.
I would not advise that. 1984 was when Obama was working for the NYPIRG or some similarly Naderite research group, if I remember correctly. Comparing that to House of Representative (McCain) or even a beauty contest would not run favorably toward Democratic candidates among the middle-ground.
beauty contest was not a serious statement. But yes, working for a non-profit is about the most heinous thing a person can do. Shocking the depths some folks will sink to.
As for beating up a librarian, she ain’t running for librarian. She’s running o be a heartbeat away from POTUS. Repubs don’t hold back, time for Dems to not do so either.
Republicans are
supposed to beheartless, evil bastards who don’t care about anyone’s feelings, nevermind minorities or women. Democratic candidates are supposed to be about huggy change and wonderful emotions, feeling the plight of the working woman.That’s a great image to put forward, but it won’t help if most people remember things the other way around.
Democratics can play attack dog if they want. There’s a price tag attached, especially if you don’t run it through third parties, and often even if you do.
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