I would make a really shitty politician so take this with a grain of salt…but am I the only one who would be just fine with a prez who spoke poetically every time he took the mike? Whose idea was it that he should make a point-by-point rebuttal to every one of McCain’s juvenile attacks? And to engage in a laundry list of things he’d like to fix? And as true as it might be, how many more times must we be told that ‘the policies of the last 8 years won’t work anymore’ – especially since most of the real problems are much older than that? So much of what he said sounded like boilerplate Democratic talking points. It was depressingly calculated – worse, shockingly, than HRC’s speech on Tuesday. Thank god Bill didn’t speak tonight.
Although, strangely, the speech took a sudden turn near the end; I can’t remember exactly the transition point, and I don’t know if it was more his demeanor or the text itself, but the last 20% or so seemed much closer to the eloquence and genuine wisdom that I was hoping for.
I was watching his previous speeches today, especially his one on race after the reverend Wright thing. My god, what a profound, engaging, and wise speech that was. Not a superfluous or insincere word. I’m still inspired by that, despite what happened tonight; clearly, he’s got it in him.
I suppose there was a strategic reason why he wrote such an uninspiring speech, and it may well have been the right thing to do to get elected; like I said, I’d make a shitty politician. But I think we all, as humans, love to be inspired by eloquence, and I just can’t see how it would have hurt him.
A good speech, but I agree he’s given better. He’s given more brilliant speeches in the past year than the vast majority politicians give in their entire careers. The bar is high: much higher for Obama than McCain (much less some hack gibberer like Bush.)
He convinced me a long time ago, but I still really liked the strength and determination he showed tonight, both in attacking McCain and BushCo and in energetically presenting his own policies and ideas.
I personally thought it was good - definitely a high B or low A. It didn’t need to be an A+ speech. I didn’t want to hear a lofty “hope-y” speech. I wanted to hear values, policy ideas, and why he is better than the alternative… that all took place. What they’ve done successfully at the convention is humanize Obama, bring the party together, and given some specifics on what “change” and “hope” mean.
The deification of Obama seems to be over, at least officially. He’s the candidate, he’s been given the reins. It’s up to him to deliver the knockout blow to the Republican machine, with help from Biden and the Clintons and the rest of the party.
I was a Clinton supporter, and I’m happy to say that I’m an Obama supporter. Which means I will critique and call out his flaws when he isn’t living up to his potential, but he absolutely has my vote in November. He earned it, against some pretty tough odds.
Hell, in 1960 JFK said that in ten years we’d walk on the fucking moon. We can do some pretty amazing things in this country when we put our minds to it.
I think the speech was good. I guess my expectations were a bit too high, but I was looking forward to this being his best speech ever, and it wasn’t. I winced a little when he used lines from past speeches …and this is from someone who is totally in the tank for Obama. Tomorrow, once all the emotion dies down, I expect the talking heads to express my sentiments.
But, oh no, John McCain won’t be anywhere near as good as Obama was tonight.
I didn’t catch the entire speech, but at least the last half of it. I’m pretty cynical about politicians but I was really pretty impressed. Some points I did like:
-It will not be easy to do all these things. It’s going to take hard work and devotion on everybody’s part.
-People can disagree politically without being traitors and America-haters.
-Aiming to cut dependence on foreign oil. This will be a biggie and a toughie (however, as big as $150B in 10 years sounded at first, that’s what we spend in about 1 year in Iraq right now).
-Soldiers aren’t out there as Republicans or Democrats, they’re out there as Americans.
-Not being afraid to bring up hot-button topics (abortion, gay rights and gun control) and the way that he wanted to focus on the common ground (disagree on abortion but agree that there should be less unplanned/unwanted pregnancies, disagree on gay marriage but agree that someone should be able to see their partner in the hospital, disagree on the 2nd amendment but agree that criminals shouldn’t be packing heat - although the “AK47” thing raised my eyebrow too Airman Doors, he could have just said “guns”).
He did several things that were good politically, such as honoring McCain’s service and stressing the fact that people can disagree in good conscience. Bringing up his own background to deal with the “elitist” label. Basically heading off what I think will become increasingly common attacks from the Republicans.
Again, me being naive, but does he really have to respond to every point on the cable news polls? Must it be that calculated? Can’t he simply decide to tell us what he believes in a manner that inspires confidence in his leadership abilities? Would Lincoln or FDR or Kennedy have gotten more votes if they had focus-grouped their speeches to this extent?
I think I’m suffering from a severe case of inflated expectations; no speech could have met the standard I was looking for. (That standard being his own Rev Wright speech). But heck, Bill kicked his ass without having anything at stake. Probably Bill is naturally the better politician, and I’m hoping that Obama will be a better president. But jeez man, can’t you just ignore the weird old man yelling at you to get off his lawn, ignore those damn polls, and do the right thing?
I think it is easier to give supporting speeches than the acceptance speeches. People have much stronger expectations about what the acceptance speech should say, witness this thread. Obama’s 2004 keynote speech was really great, and I liked Hillary’s, Bill’s, Gore’s, and Kerry’s speeches this year; it’s the supporting speeches where you can really cut loose.
Obama’s delivery, by the way, was about perfect. We shouldn’t take for granted–as we’ve gotten used to what performances he can give–his ability to deliver those lines with such sincerity, dignity, and authority.
Oh also, being eclipsed by the future first lady??? Granted, she’s a pretty tough act to follow…maybe he should have vetted his speech though her a few more times…
The transition was when he picked up on it being the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s I have a dream speach. That was when he switched from the calm, deliberative tone to the more lilting and impassioned voice.
I thought it was great. He started off with his background and valuse, moved to a calm and reasoned defense against his opponent’s claims, and then went on a fairly standard politician-ish list of what he’d do, and then wound up with his message of uplift and change.
It didn’t have the punch of his 2004 Keynote speach or his race speech, but that wasn’t the job he had to do here. By avoiding a speech of pure passion and emotion, he defended against the claim that he’s just a big talker without substance.
I’ll vote for him, but he sounded very expensive. I can’t see how he can cut taxes and get everything done that he proposes. At least not without alot of pain for his constituency for a few years. He also sounded trigger-happy with his ideas. He needs to demonstrate that his proposals are well-thought-out. To me, he came off as a bit over-reactive.
Individuals middle-class and down and small-medium businesses are going to get tax breaks. The wealthy and big corporations are going to get it in the shorts.
I wonder if we will wind up going to a dollar coin in his administration. That’s certainly one change that’ll save money. (Discussion on that is over here.)
To show you how “on the ball” his campaign is, I just received an e-mail from Barack Obama (yes, he sent it to me personally), which mentioned the speech and asked me to make another contribution to the campaign.
(I don’t care what any of you say – it was a personal e-mail from Obama to me.)
I think he was wise to turn down the poetic rhetoric and play up the more substantial policy bits (and the “why McCain would be a sucky president bits”). At this point anyone whose paying attention has heard his “hope/change/peace/love” speel, and he is in danger starting to sound like a parody of himself. Frankly I was expecting to turn the channel after watching for a few minutes to get the gist of it, and ended up watching the whole thing, simply because he did have a change in tone from his previous speeches.