Pre-speech thoughts:
Thanks Keith Olberman for reading literally several hundred words of the speech before he gives it. Why can’t you just wait? I guess you can talk about themes if you want, but why read whole passages? And, if you’re the Obama campaign why in the hell should you hand it out? I find this stupid. Nobody’s going anywhere. There aren’t people all over America who were going to go to bed until Keith Olberman decided to be the biggest spoiler of all time.
That said, I’m excited. I realized today that my expectations were impossibly high and have tried to rein them in a bit. I still believe he needs something special though.
Andrea Mitchell is really a struggle. She seems especially confused tonight.
Olberman’s just losing it in general. He just said, “For those people who say Obama hasn’t defined change, there are 1,000 words devoted to that in this speech. Those people will be hit over the head by a 1,000 word document. And, it will hurt!” he tells us. Indeed. For reference, this diary – sorry document – will probably be slightly over 1,000 words. 1,000 words are about two single-spaced typed pages. Watch out.
Obama Video: Who’s doing that voiceover? Shit, who is that? Sam Waterston? I should know this. Oh, right, the video…it’s great. No, really, it’s great. This is the best one, better than Kennedy’s even, and that one started out on third base.
10:12: Out he comes to some pretty cool music. They just showed a full stadium camera shot. Impressive.
10:14: The crowd is showing little sign of quieting down. He’s said, “thank you” about 50 times.
10:15: Finally, we’re under way…ep…he just “accepted” the nomination. Off the crowd goes again.
10:15: More Clinton homage? Will we ever be done with this? Seriously, they lost. People are either on board or they’re not, one more mention’s irrelevant.
10:18: Starting off with the economy. “America, we are better than these last 8 years.” Good line.
10:21: “We are more compassionate…than a government that sits on it hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes” That’s what I’m talking about.
10:23: “I don’t know about you but I’m not ready to take a 10% chance on change.” HA!
10:24: I love the emphasis of, “A nation of whiners.” I didn’t expect him to be this forceful. Not by a long shot. He’s such an effective speaker when he really believes what he’s saying.
10:25: I don’t believe Senator McCain doesn’t care what’s going on in the lives of American’s, I just think he doesn’t know.” I couldn’t be any happier with how this is going so far.
10:28: After a long biography section where he talks about his hardships growing up and his mom dying from cancer while arguing with insurance companies “I don’t know what kind of lives John McCain thinks celebrities lead, but this has been mine.” What a line. I’m speechless.
10:40: I’ve just been listening. He’s going into his stump policy items. They sound good, just like they always have.
10:44: Sorry, but I’m not sure why Obama seems unhappy that Iraq has a budget surplus. That’s never made any sense to me. Would he rather they were in debt?
10:47: This is getting a little long.
10:48: Excellent bit about patriotism not being the exclusive realm of one (read: Republican) party. Glad somebody finally went there. Only took 8 years.
10:50: He mentioned the gays! Good for him. He’d been quiet for too long. I’m tired of Democrats invoking the rights and support of the LGBT community for 5 months every four years and then dismissing them during the general election and actual presidential and congressional administrations.
10:53: I’ve always loved the, “it’s not about me, it’s about you” line. Brings me back to that Iowa speech I linked to yesterday. I’ve always felt it was very empowering.
10:56: Invoking MLK. I’d forgotten to be honest.
10:58: Last line, “And in the words of scripture, hold firmly, without wavering to the hope that we confess.”
Post-speech thoughts:
I’m very tempted to simply link to the speech and leave it at that. He is the most inspiring political figure in my lifetime, which I’ve said many times before. It’s impossible for McCain to approach the oratory ability that Obama has. It may make me a demagogue, or at least a hopeless partisan, but I simply do not understand how you could compare these two men and go away finding McCain the more capable leader.
This speech accomplished the impossible for me. He successfully traversed two roads that I didn’t think intersected. He managed to hit back against McCain (forcefully and effectively), while giving us the lofty and inspiring rhetoric he’s so gifted at. It was the best speech of the convention. It was filled with effective attacks, and profound and zinging one-liners.
I came to Washington, to work in politics and government, for a multitude of reasons. And one of them, and not a small one, was the chance to be doing that during an Obama administration – during an administration that might work towards the ends that I care about. I thought that if I worked hard and got lucky enough, I could have a tiny hand in what would happen. After dozens of rejections, and more than one night spent laying in bed, wondering if I should have even come here at all, I got a job today. So, I’ll get my chance, which is all I can ask for.
I’m reminded of the horrible film that was Braveheart, where the Earl of Bruce and his leper dad are fighting about why the Earl was so willing to help William Wallace, and the Earl tearfully says, “Because I want to believe.”
I want to believe, and so do a lot of people I know, and millions of others that I don’t. There are many others who would call me a hippy, or a dupe. As anyone that has ever met me can attest, I’m neither. We all need to learn that hope and pragmatism, hope and realism, hope and seriousness are not mutually exclusive. The last 8 years of crusading, fear-mongering, anti-intellectualism cannot have been the answer, and in 70 days we get to decide if it will continue to be.
I don’t know where I’m going with any of this, but it’s late, and so I’ll leave it on the same note Obama did. Although there were better lines in the speech, lines sure to be more frequently repeated tomorrow, despite being an agnostic I can’t stop coming back to the last one: “Hold firmly, without wavering to the hope that we confess.”
Rating: 5 LSs of 5
Friday, August 29, 2008
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1 comment:
dp, this is your best post thus far.
I heard that you were finally becoming a productive member of society last night, and wish you the best of luck. The United States needs more servants like you, and I for one rest a little easier knowing you are working even in humble ways to guide the ship of state. Lets hope this is the start of a long and fruitful career. Cheers!
I am re-watching the speech for the third time as I type. I had privately expressed a variety of concerns about the many things that might go wrong with an outdoor speaking venue- clearly, these concerns were unfounded.
I guess the most eloquent testimony regarding the overall effectiveness of this speech came last night- I watched this in a room full of people, and 90% of them, even the ones who admitted they were in the bag for McCain, watched the speech intently. Some applauded- applauded the television- at points. It was, on the whole, a good speech- a very good one. It was better than I'd expected.
I've no doubt that the Republican riposte is coming- and will get more even-handed press consideration than it deserves. I shudder to think that we might elevate McCain to even higher office, not because of him, but because of those who will accompany him. The last eight years have probably seen the worst government this republic has ever known, and the idea that we could be so small minded as to continue down this path would be nothing short of tragic. "...it is time for them to own their failure." It has been of stunning and epic proportion.
At this point I have spent time in a fair few places ranging from Old Europe to (ostensibly) communist dictatorships, and over and over again, usually in poorly lit hotel bars, I have had the same conversation. After going over a variety of differences between the US and wherever I happen to be, and reviewing a litany of locally objectionable US policy decisions, people of very differing backgrounds and temperaments end the conversation with variations on this concession: the United States has been doing some very stupid and wasteful things, but its ideals remain, however faintly, a model of social philosophy. You are all equal before the law. Hard work can be rewarded. You can (with a little luck) earn enough money to pursue your personal dreams.
People like Barack Obama are why this remains such a compelling vision. People like Barack Obama justify my decision to come home. "America, now is not the time for small plans." What time is? I don't know what I'll do if he loses.
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