Thoughts on Obama's acceptance speech
A few random, unorganized observations about Obama's acceptance speech:
- Obviously, everyone has known for a while now that he was going to become the first black person to accept a Presidential nomination for a major party. But it wasn't until I got to work yesterday that it really started to hit me. Last night was a huge, transformative moment in American history. I am still trying to wrap my head around the magnitude of it. Am I crazy for wondering if this is as big a deal as Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier? Or is it crazy not to think that a black man running for leader of the free world is an even bigger deal than Jackie Robinson's feat?
- The historical significance of Obama becoming the nominee underscores how brilliant it was for his campaign to focus so heavily on the mantra of "Change." The mere act of a President Obama sitting down at the desk in the Oval Office for the first time would immediately represent one of the most significant changes in the history of American politics. If a President Obama could deliver even an average presidency (and by average I mean substantially more effective than Bush, whose ranking might match his "43" order number) - he's lived up to the hype.
- I was impressed by how stern and serious Obama was, as compared to his standard stump speech, and that was exactly how he needed to be. His goal was to convince Democrats and swing voters who are on the fence that he is ready to lead, and he did a good job of projecting that.
- The speech seemed to start off a little slow, but it seemed intentionally restrained, and the intensity seemed to build over the course of speech until it rose to the level of being a great one.
- I loved when Obama ended a discussion of his family's middle-class values by saying "I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine." It made that ad seem so incredibly desperate and embarrassing.
- One of the main reasons Obama has appealed to me is that his philosophy seems pretty similar to mine. He doesn't seem phased by admitting that life is complicated, and that there are elements of truth in various different approaches to any given issue. Last night he discussed how Democrats have to remember that funding worthy programs doesn't solve all of our problems, echoing a common campaign line about how parents have to be the ones to turn off the TV and ensure that a kid is doing her homework. He ended this segment by saying: "Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility - that's the essence of America's promise." In this regard, Obama carries the mantle of Bill Clinton's "New Democrat" approach, and it is strange that he hasn't gotten more credit for the centrist/third way nature of many of his policy proposals.
- This line showed that Obama is going to punch back: "If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next commander in chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have." As far as I'm concerned, it's fair game once your opponent has taken some of the shots McCain has. Now, during the next week or so, everyone out there who is not a political junkee will be hearing about McCain's legendary temper for the first time. The combination of his neoconservative foreign policy outlook, his horrible temper, and strange behavior like the "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" moment could combine to create an insurmountable hurdle for McCain.
- Finally, Pat Buchanan says that Obama's speech was the greatest convention acceptance speech he's ever heard. Say what you will about most of his policy stances, but Buchanan is a hell of political analyst, and understands American politics as well as anyone. And if anything, the fact that Buchanan has often been outside of the mainstream is probably one reason he comes across as more honest than most analysts. I agree with him completely that this was a "deeply centrist speech." The clip would be worth watching merely for the expression on his liberal counterpart Rachel Maddow's face.
- Obviously, everyone has known for a while now that he was going to become the first black person to accept a Presidential nomination for a major party. But it wasn't until I got to work yesterday that it really started to hit me. Last night was a huge, transformative moment in American history. I am still trying to wrap my head around the magnitude of it. Am I crazy for wondering if this is as big a deal as Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier? Or is it crazy not to think that a black man running for leader of the free world is an even bigger deal than Jackie Robinson's feat?
- The historical significance of Obama becoming the nominee underscores how brilliant it was for his campaign to focus so heavily on the mantra of "Change." The mere act of a President Obama sitting down at the desk in the Oval Office for the first time would immediately represent one of the most significant changes in the history of American politics. If a President Obama could deliver even an average presidency (and by average I mean substantially more effective than Bush, whose ranking might match his "43" order number) - he's lived up to the hype.
- I was impressed by how stern and serious Obama was, as compared to his standard stump speech, and that was exactly how he needed to be. His goal was to convince Democrats and swing voters who are on the fence that he is ready to lead, and he did a good job of projecting that.
- The speech seemed to start off a little slow, but it seemed intentionally restrained, and the intensity seemed to build over the course of speech until it rose to the level of being a great one.
- I loved when Obama ended a discussion of his family's middle-class values by saying "I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine." It made that ad seem so incredibly desperate and embarrassing.
- One of the main reasons Obama has appealed to me is that his philosophy seems pretty similar to mine. He doesn't seem phased by admitting that life is complicated, and that there are elements of truth in various different approaches to any given issue. Last night he discussed how Democrats have to remember that funding worthy programs doesn't solve all of our problems, echoing a common campaign line about how parents have to be the ones to turn off the TV and ensure that a kid is doing her homework. He ended this segment by saying: "Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility - that's the essence of America's promise." In this regard, Obama carries the mantle of Bill Clinton's "New Democrat" approach, and it is strange that he hasn't gotten more credit for the centrist/third way nature of many of his policy proposals.
- This line showed that Obama is going to punch back: "If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next commander in chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have." As far as I'm concerned, it's fair game once your opponent has taken some of the shots McCain has. Now, during the next week or so, everyone out there who is not a political junkee will be hearing about McCain's legendary temper for the first time. The combination of his neoconservative foreign policy outlook, his horrible temper, and strange behavior like the "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" moment could combine to create an insurmountable hurdle for McCain.
- Finally, Pat Buchanan says that Obama's speech was the greatest convention acceptance speech he's ever heard. Say what you will about most of his policy stances, but Buchanan is a hell of political analyst, and understands American politics as well as anyone. And if anything, the fact that Buchanan has often been outside of the mainstream is probably one reason he comes across as more honest than most analysts. I agree with him completely that this was a "deeply centrist speech." The clip would be worth watching merely for the expression on his liberal counterpart Rachel Maddow's face.
posted at 1:54:00 AM | permalink
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