In 1988, the powers that be gave an unknown Arkansas governor time at the Democratic convention to introduce the nominee, Michael Dukakis.
The speech was a miserable failure, dragging on far too long.
Didn’t hurt Bill Clinton in 1992!
I guess they missed the memo in the Undying Lands. Every single word of this sentence is wrong. Even the word “the”.
Please tell miss this was a whoosh, an attempt at sarcasm.
Even poor Colin Powell knew better, even as he was forced by his boss to go in front of the U.N. and utter pure drivel.
Sorry for the hijack. To the OP: Others have covered the topic well. To me, it could have been someone else other than Obama. Just as long as it wasn’t a Republican (although Chaffee sounds good!) or a Clinton. I think many generally feel the same way I do.
In 2004 I was sitting at my computer while my 22-year old daughter was sitting at hers. In the background Obama was on TV speaking to the Democratic convention.
Gradually my daughter quit looking at the monitor and turned her complete attention to the TV. At the end of Obama’s speech she said “I don’t know who he is or what he’s running for, but I want to volunteer for him.”
This message was NOT brought to you by the Obama campaign.
As others have said, it’s not a conspiracy. It’s a case of an honest, charismatic man being in the right place at the right time. I think that political junkies underestimate how tired most ordinary Americans are of the bitter, nasty partisan sniping of the last two presidencies. There are plenty of young voters who don’t remember anything but the ugliness of the Clinton and Bush presidencies. They (and by “they” I suppose I mean “we”) want to believe that things can be different, that you can disagree with someone on a particular issue without hating their guts. I’m sick of utter cynicism about politics being a self-protective reflex. Obama offers at least the chance of changing that.
What’s behind Obama? Peter Boyle. 
Obama is fresh, well spoken, young, good looking. He’s black but talks white. He’s friendly, but not afraid to stand his ground. He’s honest about his foibles. IOW he is a Democratic PR wet dream. Shit, if he had a gay brother the DNC would be orgasmic.
I like Obama as a person. I respect him as a politician. I just don’t like his politics. If he was more seasoned, I’d consider him a qualified candidate. As it stands, he is a Freshman walk on trying to play with the Junior/Senior Varsity team. He is out of his depth.
I support Obama over Hillary mainly because of that oft-mentioned initial opposition to Iraq. That was the sensible, sane thing to do. Hillary went along with it, due to some flock idiocy or as a calculated political move. Either way, that vote makes me very wary of her, that she may make such disastrous decisions again, due to lack of good judgment or integrity. It’s simply inexcusable.
Obama may end up being a do-nothing, non-innovative lightweight, but I’ll take my chances with the guy who opposed the clusterfuck that ANYONE could have seen coming.
Also, as President, he will be on the TV a lot. He’s much nicer to listen to than Hillary. 
I watched his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic convention. I called Kevbabe into the room and pointed at the TV. “What?” “You are looking at America’s first black president.”
If he can have that effect on a 40 something white guy, that’s pretty much all the explaination that is needed.
I’ve changed my party affiliation so that I can vote for him this evening. It will be the first presidential ballet I have ever been happy about casting. (I’ve liked some other candidates, but due to late primaries in the states I have lived in, I’ve never been able to vote for them)
That may be true. I think they may also have a bad read on what people think change is.
And an even worse read on how much Obama can change it.
Regards,
Shodan
Yes: I remember that, after that speech, a lot of Dopers reported having a similar “Wow” reaction. See here: Barack Obama, which opens with the words
See also Obama for President!. Both threads are from 7-27-2004, right after the convention speech.
That doesn’t make much sense; his level of experience is one thing, the content of his politics is quite another.
Sorry. I mean that no matter what I still wouldn’t vote for him because of his political views. But right now, I don’t think he is a good candidate for the Democrats to put our front because of his lack of experience. Once he has a few years under his belt and has lost some of that youthful optimism and has become a grizzled bitter veteran of the beltway battles, then I think he would be a more believable candidate for the Dems. He needs more time in the kiddy pool before you throw him in with the sharks.
I read the post as presupposing that s/he need not like someone’s political views in order to consider them a good candidate.
-FrL-
That’s also possible. Time will tell.
I have a couple of words for youL Not Here.
Do not call posters “fool” in this Forum.
= = =
Similarly, you will refrain from accusations of trolling (even mere speculation in regard to a specific topic) regarding other posters outside the Pit.
= = =
Everyone:
C’mon folks. I know that everyone wants to be passionate about their politics, but you can rant in the Pit and gush in IMHO. Let’s keep this on some level of intellectual discussion.
[ /Moderating ]
And, give him credit - he isn’t nastying back at Hilary.
Regards,
Shodan
This is what I see as the great shame of it all. Just imagine if he were able to step in to the role as President eight years ago, with the luxury of a budget surplus and in a time of peace, he could make some extrordinary things happen. Rather, now he has to come in and clean up after the ‘nukuler cowboy’ for probably most of, or at the very least, much of his term, and just not have the financial freedom to get near as much accomplished as he, and we, all would like.
OTOH, as others have said much better than I can, perhaps now, because of the mess left that has been left for him, for us, is precisely when we need someone like Barack Obama the most.
Agreed. That is one of the things I like about him as a person. He tries to take the high road and owns up to his mistakes.
But let’s face it. No matter who wins in November, we lose. SSDD. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Or, as H L Mencken put it,
They tell us what we want to hear so they can get into office and then do whatever the hell they want.
Richard Nixon and Bush the elder were two of the most experienced Presidents in ages. How did they work out?
Eisenhower had no experience with American politics (but plenty with leadership and military politics.) He did okay.
And might I remind you of the obscure one term Congressman from Illinois, failed senatorial candidate, who had nothing but a vision.
You sound like a 1980 Carter supporter - no one can change the state of the country! Don’t estimate how much people respond to a vision of hope, going forward, and change. It’s no accident that every candidate has picked up the change mantra, mostly laughably.