Best Convention Speech

That Obama guy gives a good speech. It runs just over 53 minutes long and is as close to perfection as you can possibly get. The entire thing is available throught the Democratic Party website here.

You really must watch it. Barack Obama is the best orator since MLK. He writes his own material and delivers it perfectly. There just aren't enough superlatives for it so i wont even try. There are so many highlights but i think that this stands out as a good step forward.

It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.

For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy — give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is — you're on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps — even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.

Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to change America.

It is key because it links McCain to the Republican party as a whole reducing his independent persona. People are still giving McCain way more credit than he deserves for his apparent splits with his party. His 95% Bush compatible voting record tells the story of a man essentially assimilated like a Borg Drone into the collective. Pinning the failures of the past eight years not only on McCain and Bush but on the GOP as a whole, on their whole world view is a devastating maneuver.

The biggest thing to watch is not only whether Obama gets a bump out of this, he will, but what happens to the deeper cross tabs on McCain. Do his unfavorable go up after being exposed to this. That would be a great sign that the voters eyes have been opened some by the speech.

One thing to note is that although this may have been the best political speech in a generation i still consider the speech on race better. The pressure for that speech was greater and the margin narrower than for this speech. Obama was trying to set the bar low last night by saying this speech would be "workman like" but it retrospect he need not have done that. It was just impossible for the expectations to have exceeded what he did in Denver. He hit for the cycle, twice, with this speech.

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More on the Dark Side of the Convention

The Convention in Denver has largely been a peaceful affair. The speeches given by both Clintons, John Kerry, Joe Biden and others really rocked the house. There were no instances of Clinton loyalists stabbing the Obama in the back and the unity was evident for all to see. That was all in front of the cameras. Behind the scenes there was some business being done. It is almost fitting that some of this stuff is coming up right at the time the Jack Abramoff the king of corruption is going to e sentenced. I wrote yesterday on the ATT party thrown for the Blue Dogs efforts on their behalf in congress. Wednesday there arose another story from the dark side of the convention, that of Asa Eslocker an ABC News producer arrested attempting to take pictures on a public sidewalk of Democratic senators and VIP donors leaving a private meeting at the Brown Palace Hotel.

A police official later told lawyers for ABC News that Eslocker is being charged with trespass, interference, and failure to follow a lawful order. He also said the arrest followed a signed complaint from the Brown Palace Hotel.

Snip

Video taken at the scene shows a man, wearing the uniform of a Boulder County sheriff, ordering Eslocker off the sidewalk in front of the hotel, to the side of the entrance.

The sheriff's officer is seen telling Eslocker the sidewalk is owned by the hotel. Later, he is seen pushing Eslocker off the sidewalk into oncoming traffic, forcing him to the other side of the street.

It was two hours later when Denver police arrived to place Eslocker under arrest, apparently based on a complaint from the Brown Palace Hotel, a central location for Democratic officials.

During the arrest, one of the officers can be heard saying to Eslocker, "You're lucky I didn't knock the f..k out of you."

Video Here

Eslocker and crew were there investigating the role of corporate lobbyists and wealthy donors at the convention. That is some important work and we hope that there efforts to expose the seedy ties between corporations and our nations lawmakers. As of interest is what happens in the courts with this case. The facts at issue are unclear as it would have to be checked whether the hotel did in fact own that sidewalk.

In any event it is obvious why the hotel and these particular guests would be opposed to seeing themselves portrayed as corrupt. A story to keep an eye on...

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The Dark Side of the Convention

The Democratic Convention is the place to be right now. Denver is the center of the political world and so everyone from delegates to politicians to journalists has flocked. One thing to remember though is that where the powerful go so do the special interests and the lobbyists. These people are not there to party and have a vacation, these people are there to work.

They way they work is to set up parties and receptions. They invite lawmakers and power brokers to these events. They invite some to pitch their money and there interests and they invite others for a job well done. If you doubt that you can read this piece by Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com

Last night in Denver, at the Mile High Station -- next to Invesco Stadium, where Barack Obama will address a crowd of 30,000 people on Thursday night -- AT&T threw a lavish, private party for Blue Dog House Democrats, virtually all of whom blindly support whatever legislation the telecom industry demands and who also, specifically, led the way this July in immunizing AT&T and other telecoms from the consequences for their illegal participation in the Bush administration's warrantless spying program. Matt Stoller has one of the listings for the party here.

The blue dogs are a blight on the Democratic Party. The one thing i cant stand about them is not that they are more conservative than i would like, they are, but its that they refused to stand up as a classic conservative or a liberal. they threw the 4th amendment under the bus for campaign contributions. You cant balme everything on the BD though. They just happened to be the ones serving corporate interests on this particular bill. They are not at all alone in their attitudes, as Greenwald illustrates

It was really the perfect symbol for how the Beltway political system functions -- those who dictate the nation's laws (the largest corporations and their lobbyists) cavorting in total secrecy with those who are elected to write those laws (members of Congress), while completely prohibiting the public from having any access to and knowledge of -- let alone involvement in -- what they are doing. And all of this was arranged by the corporation -- AT&T -- that is paying for a substantial part of the Democratic National Convention with millions upon millions of dollars, which just received an extraordinary gift of retroactive amnesty from the Congress controlled by that party, whose logo is splattered throughout the city wherever the DNC logo appears -- virtually attached to it -- all taking place next to the stadium where the Democratic presidential nominee, claiming he will cleanse the Beltway of corporate and lobbying influences, will accept the nomination on Thursday night.

While you watch the powerful speeches by public officials keep this ATT event in mind. The glitz and the glam are one side of the convention, the corporate money and lobbying is the other.

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Clinton's Speech

My first reaction to the Clinton speech was that it kicked ass. I will not pretend that i was a big fan of the way Clinton ran her campaign or the people she employed to do it. I thought her campaign was cynical and against the ideals the Democratic Party stands for. That being said her speech did enough to wash away much of the personal dislike i felt for her. Here is the speech:



There were many highlight lines.

I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

...I haven't spent the past 35 years in the trenches advocating for children, campaigning for universal health care, helping parents balance work and family, and fighting for women's rights at home and around the world . . . to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our country and the hopes of our people.

And you haven't worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership.

No way. No how. No McCain.

...It makes a lot of sense that next week John McCain and George Bush will be together in the Twin Cities, because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart.

All of those along with her retelling of the Harriet Tubman anecdote made for a memorable speech.

Clinton did enough and her speech will be hailed as a success, and it was. There were several drawbacks that people will be more than happy to point out. Clinton did not go down the list of her primary attacks on Obama and repudiate them. Some people may have liked to here her telling of Obama's personal abilities vis a vis the presidency. Clinton saying unequivocally that Obama can handle the duties of Commander in Chief would have been a big plus.

Clinton will now go out and hit the trail for Obama in Penn and Ohio and other states where she performed really well. If she continues to support Obama and work tirelessly for his election then there is no reason she cant be the next liberal lioness of the Senate.

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Convention Time

It is finally here. The conventions mark the beginning of the "real" general election. The campaign finance rules change and the feel of the campaign shifts. For those interested in Team Obama the time during and right after the convention should be an indicator of where they plan to take the general. The convention serves as a symbolic turning point allowing the campaign to shift gears are make a transition to something new without it looking like desperation. McCain too has several questions surrounding him that the immediate post convention tone will answer. Here is what i think we should look for:

1. Obama on Offense.

John McCain has made a lot of mistakes during the course of the campaign. Most of these stem from the fact that he is willing to do whatever it takes to win, including deception. These deceptions make it tough for McCain to maintain a consistent and plausible identity. It has cost him his brand and has begun to sour the press on him, if only a little. Obama has so far been pretty light on the attack refusing to get into a real fight with McCain. The McCain Moment where he forgot how many houses he owns gave a glimpse of how they can attack. Now they just need to keep on the attack.

I suspect that Biden will play a big part in this. He is known as someone willing to bring the lumber when needed and Obama may have been waiting till he had his VP to lay into McCain. Biden's wit should prove a welcome addition.

Look also for other prominent Dems to start laying into McCain. The Obma camp has been very concerned about control over everything and this appears to have lessened the role for other Dems to go out an hammer McCain. All the messages seem to come from Obama himself. I think he could use the help and a coordinated offensive needs to come from multiple angles, surrogates help with that.

2. What will the Clintons do?

McCain has made a point of appealing to the possibly disaffected Clinton voters. He hopes to undercut both the enthusiasm and support of Dems behind Obama. These types of attacks may seem stupid or transparent to most voters but to those they are aimed at they might resonate. Bitter people looking for reinforcement of their views may not realize the game McCain is playing. This is why both Bill and Hillary Clinton's roles will be crucial.

They both need to get out there and tell everyone at every opportunity how great Obama is. They need to make it clear that not only should voters choose Obama because he is better than a Republican but because they personally admire him, support him. They cannot leave room for doubt. I would advocate cutting a couple of commercials imploring the former Clinton voters to back Obama and not to vote for McCain out of spite. they could go a long way towards clearing up the idea of lingering resentment.

3. McCain out of the gutter and into the sewage.

I fully expect McCain to throw every nasty idea he can think of at Obama. I would not be at all surprised to hear the McCain cut an ad with a southern white woman accusing Obama of being soft on rapists. McCain has already made attacks on Obama's patriotism and distorted his position on a number of issues. I doubt any topic is going to be off limits to McCain. The question is now, "how far will he fall?"

4. Where is the soul of the GOP

The McCain VP pick will tell us a great deal about the internal struggles and politics of the GOP. If McCain picks Romney it will signal that the well has pretty much run dry. Romney is not a particularly strong candidate for either the VP position or the presidency. His selection reveals that there is no one else available who can sieze the initiative for the next run at the presidency. Romney proved how lackluster he was during the primary. The Romney pick is also bad because he does not match up well at all with Biden.

Romney has no foreign policy experience. Biden has a lot. Romney is not a good debater, Biden is. Romney is not consistent on hardly any issues and cannot give credible explanations why he witched positions. Biden's most obvious change is on the war and he has already apologized and explained that vote.

5. Media Coverage

The other thing to watch is how the media covers the general election. Will they start to actually cover McCain based on the reality and not the constructed myth? It is not very likely given the cognitive dissonance that they are performing right now. They jump through hoop after hoop to explain away McCain's behavior. They give him every benefit of the doubt. Hopefully though his over use of the POW status will cause a backlash or eye role among the press turning his biggest asset against him. Without the press McCain is nothing.

It is probably too much to hope for that they treat the election like it is supposed to be about issues so i would not even bother wasting your time searching for that.

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Clearly Focused on Biography

One of the central themes of this election cycle has been Biography. It is a central theme in American politics that our leaders cannot be mere mortals. The must be greater than that, their lives must be stories that represent the greatness of our country. American leaders need to be unique in their background while at the same time being like everyone else. The last two men standing in this election are no different. Their biographies play a central role in their campaigns.

In Barack Obama’s landmark speech on race, “A More Perfect Union”, during the Democratic Primary this is how he summed his biography.

I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slave-owners - an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.

It is this biography, unique in the history of American Presidential politics, which has drawn both admiration and deprecation. The Biography of Obama draws rave reviews from his supporters who long to see America embrace a more multicultural - wider ranging - worldview. These supporters are elated at the anecdotes like the one he told in San Francisco Sunday,

"Not only do I think I'm a desi, but I'm a desi," he said, using a colloquial term that describes South Asian immigrants. The remark was greeted with laughs. "I'm a homeboy."

He said that when he went to Occidental College, his first roommate was Pakistani. And in his dorm, he said with a laugh, "Indians and Pakistanis came together under one roof ... to cause havoc in the university."

To applause, he said he became an expert at cooking dal and other ethnic dishes, though "somebody else made the naan," the trademark Indian bread.

The unique experiences that are so cherished by his supporters are perceived by his opponents as one of his greatest weaknesses. Mark Penn, Hilary Clinton’s Chief Strategist during her primary bid, wrote in a strategy memo

All of these articles about his boyhood in Indonesia and his life in Hawaii are geared towards showing his background is diverse, multicultural and putting that in a new light.

Save it for 2050.

It also exposes a very strong weakness for him—his roots to basic American values and culture are at best limited. I cannot imagine America electing a president during a time of war who is not at his center fundamentally American in his thinking and in his values. He told the people of NH yesterday he has a Kansas accent because his mother was from there. His mother lived in many states as far as we can tell—but this is an example of the nonsense he uses to cover this up.

How we could give some life to this contrast without turning negative:

Every speech should contain the line you were born in the middle of America to the middle class in the middle of the last century. And talk about the basic bargain as about the deeply American values you grew up with, learned as a child and that drive you today. Values of fairness, compassion, responsibility, giving back.

Let’s explicitly own ‘American’ in our programs, the speeches and the values. He doesn’t. Make this a new American Century, the American Strategic Energy Fund. Let’s use our logo to make some flags we can give out. Let’s add flag symbols to the backgrounds.

It is no secret why Penn thought that this “Ownership of America” would be a viable strategy. America has had a fear of the other in its culture, a streak of slight xenophobia. Many in this country perceive it to be superior in every way and many are distrustful of things foreign or different. Not fitting the caricature of being a American is such a flaw that it would make someone unelectable because only a true, real, American could ever lead us. In the minds of many, Obama has to strikes immediately against him, his name and his skin color. To combat these issue Obama is doing everything he can to get his biography out there and to link it to America and to the average voter he encounters. He does events like Pastor Rick Warrens forum where he can display his faith and relate to Christian voters.

Obama started well on the "3 wisest people" question. Christians like to hear men say they listen to their wives even when they know it isn't true. On the "greatest moral failing" question, Obama hit two home runs in a row. Framing his teenaged failings in terms of selfishness, of focusing on himself - very slyly giving a nod to Warren's "it's not about you" mantra - is exactly what Christians want to hear. Obama's answer is known as "giving your testimony" in conservative Christian (CC) circles; it shows a personal intimacy with the forms and content of Christianity. Obama's answer for America's greatest moral failing, quoting from Matthew 25, was pitch-perfect. You cannot argue with that answer, you cannot distort it, you cannot claim that Obama doesn't love America enough. And that he expanded it to apply to racism and sexism was good as well.

As for Obama's worldview, again he shows an ease with the concepts and vocabulary of American Christianity. "Get myself out of the way" is very good. The "acting justly, loving mercy, walking humbly with our God" is a reference to Micah 6:8, one of the most popular Bible verses within Evangelical Christianity. That's just bloody brilliant rhetoric there, not only in knowing to use the verse, but knowing exactly when and how to use it. Again, I think Obama really believes this stuff, which is why he's able to be so natural with it all. He's actually read the Bible - unlike most Evangelicals - and it's important to him.

It appears that not only will Obama continue to do events like the FFP he has decided to make the Democratic Convention a story about his Americaness.

Through four nights there will be testimonials from family members like Mr. Obama’s wife and sister who will tell his “very American story,” in the words of one adviser, and from party luminaries like Senator Edward M. Kennedy (by videotape) and former President Bill Clinton (live) who will give Mr. Obama, the presumptive presidential nominee, the imprimatur of the party establishment.

At the convention beginning next Monday in Denver, there will be appearances by lesser known “Americans from all walks of life, from across the country” speaking about their support for Mr. Obama. Combined with a film featuring the candidate in all-American scenes by Davis Guggenheim — the director of “An Inconvenient Truth” whose father produced a similar biographical film for Robert F. Kennedy — aides to Mr. Obama are using the convention to tackle what members of both parties see as his greatest vulnerability with undecided voters: his “otherness.”

I am one of those who view the story of Barack Obama as a positive. AS the world becomes smaller do to globalization America cannot afford to keep its head in the sand, we need a President who will open America’s eyes to the rest of the world. Obama supports teaching children a foreign language. From personal experience, I can tell you that going abroad without a basic understanding of another language can be a big handicap. Obama will also be able to illustrate to the world that America is ready to turn the page on the disastrous Bush years. People should not vote for Obama because he is black or because he has the biography but it should be a definite positive.

Maybe it is a sign of my youth but I have trouble understanding why attacking Obama over his biography would be effective. I am not from the Midwest. I do not hold that region of the country in some mythic status above the rest of the country. Claiming that Obama is not sufficiently dedicated to this country is something that should earn scorn and enmity. He has proved it as much as any other American. America is bigger than the white people who live in a few states in the middle of the country and it is time we had a president who demonstrated that.

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