First of all, let me say, I entered this speech completely undecided. Biden really, really swayed me last night to stay true to the party, to set aside my PUMA issues and vote blue in November.
And anyone who feels pride, joy, amazement at the honor we have of being citizens of the United States of America ... last night, you had to feel great. John McCain, in what I thought was a truly classy, incredible gesture, put it best in an ad he ran last night. "Congratulations. Job well done".
For the first time, last night, the idea that anyone in America can become President, became a reality. The dream ... became a reality. Just a truly incredible, inspiring, jaw-dropping awesome moment when Obama took the podium.
Having said that ... did he win my vote? Let's see ...
"With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for President of the United States." Arguably the single most historic moment in American political history, and its how he opens the speech. I stood and applauded right along with the 84,000 plus at fake mile high. Again, regardless of your leanings, regardless of your thoughts on Senator Obama, this was beyond a historic moment. Hillary may have cracked the glass ceiling, but Obama took a freaking jack hammer and destroyed it last night. What an amazing, wonderful, awe-inspiring nation we live in.
The shout out to Hillary was nice. Too bad nobody from Team Clinton was in the house to hear it.
I stood and applauded for nearly 30 seconds at the Ted Kennedy line. My feeling on Ted Kennedy is this: you know all is right, good and decent in this world when he's in the Senate. He's a comfort blanket. Just like having Rush on the radio is a comfort blanket. As long as the two blowhards are out there, you know our democracy works. To think of a Senate without Ted Kennedy ... well, let's just not think of it and move on.
I also, and probably because after the Clinton years, you just never expect to see it, but the genuine love and respect Barry has for Michelle and his kids. Its not a partnership, its a relationship. Just awesome to see.
"For 232 years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women ... found the courage to keep it alive. We meet at one of those defining moments tonight". Yes. Yes we do.
"America, we are better than these last 8 years! We are a better country than this!" Amen Senator. A freaking men.
"We are better ... than a government that sits on its hands, while a major American city drowns before our eyes". Amen Senator. A freaking men. (Here's hoping we don't see a replay early next week ...)
"We are here because we love this country too much to let the next 4 years look like the last 8". Amen.
"On November 4th, we must stand up and say 8 is Enough!" Great line.
Crowd picks up on it. "8 is enough! 8 is enough!"
"Let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction. And for that we owe him our gratitude and respect". I kind of hit on this on my review of Biden's speech ... but I like how Obama is going about this. Acknowledge the elephant in the room. McCain is a hero, in every sense of the word. Pay him tribute, honor his service, but point out that it isn't McCain that's the problem, its his stand on the issues of our time. Obama is doing this very, very well so far. In my never humble opinion.
I loved his example of the Michigan auto workers who showed up even after they knew the plant was closing. As someone who's been through "corporate downsizing" not once, not twice, but three times in 10 years... we aren't whiners. We're Americans who deserve better. A little thing called "dignity". "respect". "common sense". Amen Senator. A freaking men.
"I don't believe Senator McCain doesn't care about what is going on in the lives of ordinary Americans. I just believe he doesn't know." Great line.
"In Washington they call this the ownership society, but what it really means is, you're on your own". Another great line. Leads into a tremendously effective rant about modern corporate America.
"Its time for them to own their failure". Amen Senator. We didn't own the White House the last 8 years. The Supreme Court the last 8 years. The House, the Senate for the first 6 years of the decade. Republicans did. If you don't like where this nation is at, you know who to take your frustration out on. And it ain't the donkeys.
(note: I never thought I'd ever type or say the line "don't take your frustrations out on the donkeys". (bob dylan voice) oh the times, they are a'changin ...)
Great point about how the actual living wage has decreased in the 8 years under Bush. Thank you lack of a national energy policy. Seriously, that's impeachable on its own. You own every effing branch of the effing government for the first 6 years you're on the job, and you STILL don't have a freaking energy policy to get us off Middle Eastern oil? That's just criminal. (campaign slogan voice) Stupid. Retarded. Bush.
"An economy that honors the dignity of work". Haven't seen that since the 1990s. Nowadays, the harder you work ... the faster you get downsized. Because corporate profits, after all, are all that matter. If that stock goes up $.02 a share because you lay off 1,000 workers to "save costs" and "reposition the company", hey, that's good!!!
"Ours is a policy that says government cannot solve all our problems, but that it should do what we cannot do for ourselves". Amen. My views on government exactly.
"Our government should work for us, not against us, it should help us, not hurt us ... that's the promise of America, the idea that we are responsible for ourselves but that we also rise or fall as one nation." Amen Senator. Amen.
At this point, we are nearly 20 minutes in ... and we still have zero idea what his "change" is. He's done a great job of speaking on a level that average Americans (like me) can understand. He's delivered the sweeping thoughts and pleasantries that we know he can say. But again, where's the substance? Where's the beef?
"I will stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas". There's some beef. And Amen! Amen! Why the hell hasn't this been done already?
"I will cut taxes for 95% of all working families". How? There's no specifics given, there's no reason to believe this. At some point, you can't cut taxes anymore on the "working class". Especially since the top 1% of wage earners currently pay 52% of the taxes!
"Now is the time to understand that drilling is a stop gap solution, not a long term solution". Wrong Senator. Dead wrong. Its incredible to me that my party can be so wrong on THE issue of this election. Its truly mind boggling, the ignorance of the Democratic establishment, on this issue. The only way to get off of foreign oil, is to find our own. Which means drill. And if anyone honestly believes that oil companies, who know their time as profitable ventures is very limited and thus have to maximize every cent of profit while they can, if anyone honestly believes it is going to take them "10 years" to bring new pipelines and facilities online and pumping, they're nuts. I doubt it would take even 3. When Bush symbolically lifted the federal ban on drilling, a ban his daddy enacted by the way, since that moment, gas is down almost $.40 / gallon. Just saying we MIGHT drill dropped gas $.40. Imagine the plummet if we, you know, actually put into action what we say.
Promises $150 billion over 10 years to alternative fuels. Utterly pointless. $15 billion / year isn't going to solve the problem.
Promises high pay and more support for teachers. That's nice. Too bad he gave zero, zip, nada in terms of words to revoking No Child Left Behind. If anything he seemed to indicate he'd keep NCLB in place.
"If you commit to serving your community or our country, we will make sure you can afford a college education". Uuh, don't we already commit to that via the GI Bill?
On to health care. This point I completely agree with, allowing the American public to buy into the federal employee plan. It will continue to require the person to pay, while forcing private insurance companies to get in line and actually compete for their customers. Competition always drives costs down. Of course, he stole this idea from Hillary, but hey, why bother at this point.
Great line about how he wants his daughters to have the exact same opportunities as someone else's sons.
"Many of these plans will cost money". No sh*t. Claims he's laid out how he'll pay for every dime. Uuh, ok. I'm not buying it, but ok.
"We cannot meet 21st century challenges with a 20th century bureaucracy". Agreed.
"We must admit that meeting America's promise will require more than just money ... yes, government must lead, but each of us must do our part". OK. So what exactly is it that you want us to do, Senator? Specifics! Give us some damned specifics!
"We must admit that programs alone cannot replace parents! That government cannot turn off the television and make kids do their homework! That fathers must take more responsibility to provide love and guidance to their children!" Whoa, this guy is the liberal in this election?!?!
"Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility, that's the essense of America's promise". Amen Senator. Amen.
"John McCain says he'll follow bin Ladin to the gates of hell. But he won't even follow him to the cave where he lives". Great line. Entirely untrue; McCain is not the one leading our military efforts the last 8 years. But still, great line.
"We are the party of Roosevelt, of Kennedy. So don't tell me Democrats won't keep this country safe!" We're also the party of Carter and Dukakis. Anyone ready to see Barry driving a tank in a campaign ad? Or a pic of Barry in a sweater saying that our best days are behind us? I swear, sometimes this party drives me to drink. (sometimes?!?!)
"As commander in chief, I will never hesitate to keep this country safe. But I will only commit our troops into combat with a clear, defined mission ..." Uuh, Senator? Our troops in Iraq were given a clear, defined mission when that war started. Its not a clear, defined mission that screwed us. It was lack of a clear, defined leadership.
Promises to negotiate with those that hate us. Yeah, ask Neville Chamberlain how well that approach works.
"So that America is once again that last, best hope for all those that yearn for freedom". Uuh, Senator? What do you mean by "once again"?
"Let us agree that patriotism has no party". Amen. A freaking men, Senator.
"They have not served a red America, or a blue America, they have served the UNITED States of America". Great line.
USA chant going. So f*ck off Republicans! At least some of us Dems are patriotic! We just choose to embrace reality rather than whatever (system of a down voice) "lies from the tablecloth" Bush is feeding us.
I wanted to get this part verbatim, because I thought this was his best moment last night, at the 35 minute mark for about the next 2, 2 1/2 minutes. Just ... this was the clearest, most focused, cohesive argument made last night to elect Obama, the next 5 paragraphs:
"We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than they are for those plagued by gang violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the 2nd Amendment while keeping AK47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian sisters and brothers deserve the right to visit the person they love in the hospital, and to live lives free from discrimination. Passions may fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child, or when an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers.
"This too is part of America's promise, the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in a common effort. I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life, is just a Trojan horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected.
"Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from. You make a big election about small things. And you know what? Its worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government.
"Because when Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, you think its best to stop hoping, to settle for what you already know. I get it. I realize that I'm not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree. And I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.
"But I stand before you tonight, because all across America, something is stirring. What the naysayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. Its about you! (huge applause) Its about you! For 18 long months, you have stood up, one by one and said enough to the politics of the past! You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result! You have shown what history teaches us, that at defining moments in history like this one, that change doesn't come from Washington, it comes to Washington! (huge applause)"
Just ... very well laid out. Great, great oratory argument here. And he follows it up with another great section of his speech:
"You know, this nation has more wealth than any nation on earth. But that's not what makes us rich. This nation has the greatest military the world has ever known. But that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.
"Instead, it is that American spirit, that American promise, that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain, that makes us set aside our differences, that makes us fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, that better place around the bend. That promise is our greatest inheritance."
Amen, Senator. A freaking men.
And with that, he was pretty much done. The confetti fell, the fireworks were launched, (thankfully) no CNN staffers were dropping f bombs on the air like during Kerry's convention ... and to the general election we go.
And I am still undecided.
I wanted substance. I wanted "red meat". I wanted to know exactly what Senator Obama will do. I wanted action plans, I wanted details, I wanted something to show me exactly what the Senator means by "change".
I didn't get it. We didn't get it. And I think its a mistake.
He's got 67 days to make his case to the public at large.
Good luck.
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