Thoughts On An Epic Speech

Putting aside the speech and its politics, last evening was very moving for everyone there, myself included. It was a privilege to have witnessed it  The staging was spectacular. Hard to be immune to an experience of an historical first and the emotions 85,000 peers. I write this because, as I read some of the news coverage, the tone borders on rapturous, and I wonder if reporters who attended were unduly influenced by the surroundings. It was not the best speech Obama's ever given, but probably his most urgent; it checked all the boxes, some of which had been empty for a while. It was a stump speech...but different from his regular stump speech in structure and even substance. A remarkably non-defensive speech for a Democratic presidential candidate. He's not going to be Dukakis or Kerry.... He didn't talk much about his biography. The film and the week did that. He skipped over almost everything but his Iraq vote. A lot of symbolic talk from Obama and Biden and others about Obama's life fulfilling America's promise. For all the talk about how "this" is about "you," it was really about what Obama represents...not what he's done...but what he represents.  If the first three days of the convention were too inwardly focused, too much about HRC v. BHO, the last day was about all Obama v. McCain, with Obama assuming ownership of parts of the Clinton legacy.  And the McCain campaign response was weird, suggesting to me that they really had no idea what they had just seen. He went after McCain's temperament. Crossed that Rubicon. I do not think that the McCain campaign anticipated that Obama will do so frontally. Clearly, the Obama campaign wants to frame the national security debate as one where judgment is prior to experience, where wisdom is superior to strength. Importantly, Dems of all stripes seemed to love the speech.
On the economy and domestic issues, the substance of the speech was quite liberal, unabashedly. A chicken for every interest group pot. This reflects the tenor of the times. But he emphasized, first, his middle class tax cut, and you will hear more about that in the future.

Obama's nod to values and fatherhood and the abortion dispute should be noted.