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Obamarama
Submitted by Dan U-A on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 11:58pm.
Color me stunned. I knew he was good, I knew he would probably go a little harder. But... wow.
(Photo from This Week with Barack Obama, which has a ton of great pics from the night.)
Consider this an open thread on the speech.
And, if you want to help make a difference, need a non-campaign outlet, and want one that will last longer than 4 or 8 or even 20 years, MoveOn is launching an effort to register a half a million young voters for November. I think that is something YPP can get behind. I just chipped in 25 bucks.
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Poetry time was great, but now it's time to work
Beautiful speech: hard, solid and soaring in the right places, appropriate for the time and the circumstances. Obama tonight reminded those of us who've supported him for awhile why we wanted him there, speaking for the Democrats, appealing to Undecideds and Independents.
I think he made a good case to Clinton supporters too, after Hillary and Bill did the same.
If you want life in the city to get better, you know we need Obama in the White House instead of McCain.
Now, we--the residents of the most important city in the United States--need to step up and help get Obama elected.
Why is Philly the most important city?
Because we're the largest community in the country where the votes count.
New York? McCain won't even buy TV there. LA? Both sides agree Cali is not in play. Chicago is a slam dunk in a home state, and so unfortunately is Phoenix (unless the whole election is a slam dunk, and we can't count on that). Houston is an oasis in the desert country of Bush.
That leaves us. Thanks to the outdated Electoral College, our votes count more than any other large city's. Do not relax. Sure, Obama is going win the city, and he'll win it big; but four years ago John Kerry won it big, and then he won Bucks County and Delaware County and Montgomery County...and when the votes from the rest of the state came in, he eked out a victory of just 2 percentage points over George W. Bush.
So even if you know your neighborhood or your block will hand Obama a big victory at your poll, even then you can't rest easy. Obama likely needs a larger cushion of victory from the city than Kerry needed 4 years ago in order to win PA, a state any Democrat can't afford to lose. Obama may not be able to count on the suburbs to deliver as well as they did for Kerry. Then we have to consider all those divisions and wards in the Northeast and South Philly, places that Kerry carried 75%-25% in 04, and that Hillary carried 85%-15% in April. Obama cannot afford to write off a big drop in those places.
If you're willing to help persuade some important Democratic voters who still may be on the fence, South Philly and Northeast Philly are good places to work. If you're looking for an opportunity there, Philly For Change's campaign Philly Against McCain can find one for you. Check out our website or give me a call at (267) 307 8821.
But there are lots of ways to help. Be like Dan and help MoveOn register new voters: there are more out there unregistered than you'd imagine. Contact the Obama campaign and ask what you can do. Talk to your committeeperson and make sure that someone is knocking on doors in your own neighborhood, both to register voters and to make sure that all who need rides get rides to the polls. Persuade those nontraditional voters or still-unconvinced Hillary voters in your neighborhood.
Be Green. Conserve the energy you got from tonight's speech and use it over the next 2 months.
Do something to help Obama and the Democrats win. The shape of the election magnifies everything we do in Philly.
If you want life in the city
How is it that Sam Durso is almost always right (almost).
It was an inspiring speech. I'm looking forward to the debates.
Dude, your first Amendment
Dude, your first Amendment rights cover your right to speak, not to speak whereever you want. Haven't you seen the "protest zones" miles away from Bush events? If I want to hold up a sign and give a speech, I don't have the right to break into your house to do it. But apparently the President has the right to know what books I read and who I talk to and what I talk about on the phone without any due process.
And I know the press has been remiss about publicizing Obama/Pelosi's secret plan to nationalize all industries and abolish the bourgeois elections and property rights in advance of the withering away of the state. But you still might want to look to something other than the Marxist/socialist tag if you want to get your criticism of the Dems off the ground.
So there's these 2 muffins
So there's these 2 muffins in an oven.
They're both sitting, just chilling and getting baked.
And one of them yells "God Damn, it's hot in here!"
And the other muffin replies "Holy Crap, a talking muffin!"
Momma don't preach - she is in trouble deep!
I agree with the with those who say that Palin's daughter's pregnancy is none of our business. Earlier today, 9-1-08, Steve Schmidt , the McStrategist, told a members of the press that Sen. McSame did know about the Palin's daughter's pregnancy but considered it a family matter - I agree.
I am curious, however, how do the Palin's, who because of their political-faith profess to be morally superior to non-born-again Americans, are going to:
1) convince other ultra-religious voters that they are moral standard bearers;
2) that this is not another case of a child being forced by their intolerant parents to accept an unwanted (and most likely, unintended) pregnancy;
3) since Palin believes that every American woman's reproductive decision is a matter of public morality, and thus the government's responsibility to police, then isn't her daughter's out-of-wedlock sexual behavior par for the course?
But, I do agree that, Bristol Palin's pregnancy is none of our business! And neither is anybody else's pregnancy and what they might ultimately decide to do out it.
I guess that people who live in igloos should not go around setting their neighbors barns on fire.
Notes I made last night
# Therefore, my brothers, since we have confidence to enter the
sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, the new and living way that he opened
for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we
have a great high priest over the household of God, let us continue to
come near with sincere hearts in the full assurance that faith
provides, because our hearts have been sprinkled clean from a guilty
conscience, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us
continue to hold firmly to the hope that we confess without wavering,
for the one who made the promise is faithful. And let us continue to
consider how to motivate one another to love and good deeds, not
neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging
one another even more as you see the day of the Lord coming nearer.
For if we choose to go on sinning we learned the full truth, there no
longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but only a terrifying prospect of
judgment and a raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
(Hebrews 10: 19-27)
# I just switched from CSPAN to PBS to catch some commentary, and
David Brooks was pretty tough on Obama -- Brooks wasn't wowed, Obama
didn't show enough emotion, it was a mistake to go outside and
separate himself from the crowd. And compared to Joe Biden's speech,
Obama's was quite a bit cooler. I actually wonder whether Obama and
Biden are actually going to continue to play against type in this
campaign. The CW says that Obama will be the young, charismatic
idealist while Biden will be the hard-headed policy wonk and attack
dog. And Biden might hit back tougher than Obama will -- I love the
"go out and bloody their nose so you can walk down the street" ethic.
But at least so far, Joe Biden has been the beating heart of the
ticket, looser, warmer, emotionally resonant, while Obama is becoming
-- by reason of necessity and reversing the narrative, but also I
think out of his preparation and his own process of putting on his
game face -- firmer, more directed, tougher, less a painting of a
dream of the future than an arrow shooting forward into it. If he's
going to win, he's got to take a shot at the title, and he knows it.
# Also, Obama's rhetoric is being and will be judged on an incredible
curve here. Anytime someone describes Hilary Clinton's speech as
"incandescent" and Obama's as "a disappointment" (as Julianne Malveaux
just did) is leaning on the scales.
# It's also becoming clear as I watch Tavis Smiley that a sizable
chunk of the black intelligentsia -- particularly of the baby boom
generation -- is by necessity going to be hypercritical of Obama as he
by necessity is going to have to keep his distance from them. I'm
looking at you, Dr. West.
# As a speechwriter and speaker, Obama is particularly good at
avoiding cliches. He could have quoted the same verse of Romans that
we hear at every wedding on faith, hope, and love; he quoted Hebrews
instead, and this was a Hebrews speech -- intricate and tightly
argued, aimed at persuading the toughest-minded critics that Obama is
the real thing. Likewise, he could have trotted out any of the
familiar lines of Dr. King's "I Have A Dream Speech," but instead he
opted for "We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the
pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."
Julianne Malveaux took a shot at Obama for referring to King as "a
young preacher from Georgia" -- "he wouldn't even say Dr. King's
name!" -- but I think what Obama was trying to do is to reinforce the
notion he invoked at the beginning of the speech and again at the end
that "at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't
come from Washington. Change comes to Washington." Dr. King doesn't
become the unassailable icon, the leader any politician, no matter how
conservative, can invoke for his opposition to violence or his
"content of character." He becomes another one of the ordinary people
doing extraordinary things, a man for his moment, a focal point for
the energies and imaginations of millions of Americans. We cannot walk
alone, we shall always march ahead, we cannot turn back. I'll spell
out what Obama didn't: Change is marching on Washington. Parse that
both ways.
--Tim (aka Short Schrift)
Obama is Big Time
No way for the AP wire to spin this:
So -- 40 million? Maybe more? In prime time, when TV's stars come out to shine?
More people than voted in the Democratic primary. 2/3 of the number of people who voted in the 2004 Presidential election.
It's harder to get people out to vote than it is to get them to turn on the television. But if McCain's people thought that by announcing their VP pick this afternoon, that most people wouldn't catch the speech and that nobody would be talking or thinking about the convention any more, they were dead wrong.
--Tim (aka Short Schrift)
Palin was a fucking brilliant choice
Normal people do not give a damn how many people Palin knows, or the population size of the state she governs. Independents will assume she is a moderate R because of her gender, and she will be able to speak to the conservatives in code. Her every appearance on television will rub salt in the wounds of PUMAs, they've now taken away the 'history' advantage that Obama had, her reformer cred highlights McCain's, she will probably spend the entire campaign talking about healthcare,
childcare etc., and for all of you who think that a single verbal gaffe by an untested candidate is going to sink this ticket, I would just like to remind you that these are the same people who made George Bush into a president.
Gallup: There is also wide
Gallup:
It could work if
I think only might work if McCain shifts track and effectively runs against the Bush Presidency. Palin isn't tied to Bush or the Congressional Republicans and she has a reformers' reputation. (You know, except for using the power of your office to settle family scores; or worse, letting your husband use the power of your office to settle family scores.)
Run foreign policy as anti-torture, anti-Rumsfeld, pro-surge; and on domestic policy blast the Republicans for letting spending get out of hand. Make it a call for a return to conservative virtues, the notion being that Bush was a failure because he wasn't a real conservative but some kind of incompetent Caesarist.
This won't happen though, because McCain's money machine will dry up; too many Republicans are still too wedded to Bush and co., and McCain's already sold his soul by making nice; if he tries to take it back, the Republicans will remember that they all thought he was an untrustworthy traitor just a few months ago, when Mitt Romney was the man to beat.
I think the long-term effect of Sarah Palin being on the VP ticket is that she becomes the new face of the anti-abortion movement. Prolifers have wanted to get women out in front of that for a long time.
Compare Rick Santorum arguing that abortion (and even birth control) is "degrading to women" vs. Sarah Palin telling her story about her son Trig's down syndrome (a pregnancy only 10% of women would bring to term). Suddenly the anti-abortion movement isn't just about eking out a majority of judges who will roll back the last fifty years, but about an emotional appeal to younger men and women whom the Republican party is currently losing in droves. I think they'll take that, even if McCain loses.
P.S.: See here and here for how I think Obama and the DNC can run against McCain/Palin. (Short versions: keep hitting them on the economy -- Alaska's is one of the nation's worst -- and elevate a whole field of young & experienced Democratic women to argue against McCain/Palin on the merits and diminish Palin by comparison.)
The hurricane made up for it.
It took me two days, but I calmed down about this a little bit. Apparently Mother Nature is doing press work for the Obama campaign. Who needs a 527 when you have Gustav? Or pregnant teenage daughters?
Momma don't preach - she is in trouble deep!
I agree with the with those who say that Palin's daughter's pregnancy is none of our business. Earlier today, 9-1-08, Steve Schmidt , the McStrategist, told a members of the press that Sen. McSame did know about the Palin's daughter's pregnancy but considered it a family matter - I agree.
I am curious, however, how do the Palin's, who because of their political-faith profess to be morally superior to non-born-again Americans, are going to:
1) convince other ultra-religious voters that they are moral standard bearers;
2) that this is not another case of a child being forced by their intolerant parents to accept an unwanted (and most likely, unintended) pregnancy;
3) since Palin believes that every American woman's reproductive decision is a matter of public morality, and thus the government's responsibility to police, then isn't her daughter's out-of-wedlock sexual behavior par for the course?
But, I do agree that, Bristol Palin's pregnancy is none of our business! And neither is anybody else's pregnancy and what they might ultimately decide to do out it.
I guess that people who live in igloos should not go around setting their neighbors barns on fire.
The Most Brilliant Choice Since Spiro Agnew
The nomination of Sarah Palin is the most brilliant choice since Richard Nixon picked second year governor Spiro Agnew--who had defeated a flaming racist--to appeal to moderates. But Agnew, like Palin, was picked because he really was a hardcore rightwinger despite some superficial liberal credentials.