Thoughts on the speech
I'm somewhat at a loss for commentary, because to me, the message was far bigger than the speech that was given. The event, the tone, the crowd, the staging, the coverage, all passed a wordless metamessage that I think is the real significance of this event. Seriousness. Heft. Capability. I don't really know how to describe it.
It's not going to convert those set against him, but I think Obama and "lean Obama" got that message, probably best summed up as "He can be president," and frankly, that's all he needs to win.
Now, does that image hold?
It's not going to convert those set against him, but I think Obama and "lean Obama" got that message, probably best summed up as "He can be president," and frankly, that's all he needs to win.
Now, does that image hold?
posted by mikevotes at
6:56 AM
8 Comments:
"I'm somewhat at a loss for commentary, because to me, the message was far bigger than the speech that was given. "
Very true. It was like a giant family reunion at a giant picnic... albeit a very stage-crafted picnic.
A couple of thought. Did you see the five "everyday Americans" speak. It was fantastic. Authentic. Real. And entirely heartfelt.
Richard Norton Smith and Michael Beschloss (on PBS) made positive references to JFK.
Obama's seriousness and heft (to steal your words) as he addressed issues of his patriotism, judgement and fitness to be Commander in Chief were effective. Obama was essentially telling McCain "you can kiss my ass, old man." I don't think that was lost on the audience.
There's the unspoken warmth -- a decency -- you see within the Obama family. Between Barack and Michelle, and the obvious love between father and daughters.
My wife cried... But in fairness, she's a soft touch.
By
-epm, at 8:34 AM
Yeah, the ordinary people was a really nice section.
And "come and get me" attitude wasn't lost on the TV audience either.
Same, although it was me, not a wife.
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mikevotes, at 8:48 AM
epm wrote:
A couple of thought. Did you see the five "everyday Americans" speak. It was fantastic. Authentic. Real. And entirely heartfelt.
I agree. That was a very effective presentation, especially the two lifelong Republicans endorsing Obama. I think a lot of nominal Republicans can see themselves in those people. Not that I'm predicting a wave of Republicans voting for Obama, but it takes the scare out of him for all but the hard-core.
McCain is not only gravitating toward the Right, he's also gravitating towards older voters (50+). His upcoming assault against Obama with the Ayers smears is a resurrection of the Sixties that means little or nothing to anyone under 45. He might as well be talking about the Spanish-American War. And very few who lived through that turmoil want to re-open those wounds. But among those older voters, health care is a critical issue, and McCain's proposals along those lines are weak tea.
My favourite part of Obama's speech was when he took on the "patriotism issue". The GOP has benefited much by casting their Party as the "patriotic option", and his speech did a great deal to take the wind out of those sails. Now McCain is left convincing voters that Obama only thinks he's patriotic, but he's not really. The result is that independents will begin to think that perhaps McCain wouldn't consider them to be "patriotic enough", either.
At any rate, Obama made himself "known" to anyone who was remotely curious, and he didn't come off as some kind of scary Huey Newton character, either. Since McCain is essentially the 'default' choice, that is huge.
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Todd Dugdale , at 10:05 AM
" Obama made himself "known" ..."
I'd add that Obama also seems to "know" himself. As McCain's ethical and ideological compass continues to drift, Obama sounds remarkably rock solid in his own identity.
We'll see if McCain is as detailed on what he wants to accomplish as president. I suspect it will just be broad brush Republican boilerplate stuff.
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-epm, at 10:39 AM
Todd, I don't see a wave either, but it's my contention that last night was about unsure leaners.
Interestingly, outside blacks, over 65 looks to be the biggest gap, but I think alot of that has to do with racism. The tie to Ayers is intended to invoke crazy black man which works well on those who were old enough to be shocked at the late 60's.
And, that's a good point that he took "more of the same" and turned it into the default.
....
EPM, he definitely communicates surety in these set appearances.
And, it will be boilerplate Republicanism, because the details poll badly.
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mikevotes, at 11:08 AM
The tie to Ayers is intended to invoke crazy black man which works well on those who were old enough to be shocked at the late 60's.
Let's say someone was 30 in '71 when the Weathermen were "big". That makes them 67 now. Aside from being very bad at robbing armoured cars, the Weathermen made lousy bogeymen, and they are in their 60's now, so they are not really scary. I'm not afraid of an elderly college professor or his wife. He worked with Ayers, which somehow means he agreed with his politics. How many of us work with people whose politics they disagree with?
Obviously, the effort is to tie Obama to Sixties radicalism, but a whole lot of boomers said and did things in those days that they don't particularly brag about now. How do you imagine they would feel if younger people were slandered by association with them for something in their past?
And many of the people who were "shocked" by Huey Newton and the Weathermen were already middle-aged in those days, so we're moving into a much older demographic there.
In the end, however, I think Obama completely defused the potential of the "Ayers issue" by portraying himself as distinctly non-scary.
Mike, you are younger than me. Do the Sixties seem relevant to your life or to the issues we face as a nation today? Or do they seem like ancient history that makes you want to yawn? I'm thinking you incline more toward the yawning response, which makes McCain seem even older and more out of touch with the issues today. And if that is true, then the "Ayers issue" may backfire in a big way, as well as energising the left that feels left out in Obama's move toward the centre.
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Todd Dugdale , at 12:05 PM
By comparison, this would be like Richard Nixon, in 1960, of trying to tie Kennedy to an "anarchist" of 1922...
I'm 48, as of two days ago. The 60's are something I remember from a child's perspective. I have no independent, personal emotions for the cultural and political climate of that time. It is irrelevant to me.
If McCain want's to make Ayers and issue, he first has to spend time and money "educating" more than half the electorate about the 60s and about the Weathermen and then he has to tie Obama to Ayers -- which is just silly anyway.
Obama has two responses. Why is McCain trying to tie me for something that happened when I was 8 years old? Why is McCain stuck living in the 60s?
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-epm, at 12:26 PM
No, Todd, that's not what I was after. The afraid isn't about Ayers, it's to turn Obama into black radical because he "associated with Ayers" even though it was decades later.
And, I tend to agree that Ayers is likely nothing substantial. It will fuel some but those folks are just looking for reasons to hate Obama.
The only way it becomes something serious is if the media start discussing it as "an issue" which they've thankfully, and surprisingly, decided it's not.
As to the sixties, no, the recurring battles feel stupid. All that stuff exists only in wireframe caricatures with any emotional content laid on separately, at some historical distance.
BUT, it definitely intrudes. It doesn't make sense to me that those battles still being fought have the weight that they do, but I'm definitely aware of their weight and how it affects things.
And, to me, McCain is really of the 50's and early 60's. He was 21 and barely graduating from the Naval Academy when Chuck Berry released Johnny B. Goode.
Some of his politics and definitely his party is rooted there, but in my mind hes older than that.....
....
EPM, The thing about these attacks is they work broadly if you can get the media to do the groundwork for you, which they're not, and narrowly they work on people already predisposed against Obama.
....
And for the record, I'm 39.
(and have certainly done more reading on National Security than Sarah Palin.)
By
mikevotes, at 1:12 PM
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