convention Coverage: Reporter's Notebook
Obama’s Acceptance Speech - Catharsis for Desperate Dems
By Jill Kuraitis, 8-28-08
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By now, billions of words have been written about Sen. Barack Obama’s acceptance of his party’s presidential nomination at Invesco Field in Denver, and TV news people will pick apart the performance and call it show business and Republicans will express their disdain.
Of course it was show business. The Republican convention will be, too. For the past twenty years both parties have held essentially pro forma conventions designed simply to bolster the faithful and hype their candidates. They are what they are.
Whichever convention comes first gets the brunt of the criticism, but it generally dies after the second convention.
But no matter how it looked on television tonight, I am here to tell you that being here on the floor of this huge stadium to feel the wildly inspired throng of 70,000 fired-up Democrats stomp and stamp and whistle and cheer and clap themselves into a near frenzy of hope and shared inspiration was profoundly sincere.
It didn’t feel like show business. It felt like catharsis, especially when Obama said, “It’s time for them to own their failure” – a line that made the Idaho delegation roar with approval.
Millions of us are desperately angry at the Bush/Cheney administration and the prospect of more of the same from Sen. McCain. The ruination of the American economy, the dishonesty of blaming Saddam for 9/11, the outrage of the Bush/Cheney adminstration’s failure to cope with Katrina, the war profiteering, the outrageous claim and insulting cartoon antics of “mission accomplished,” the indignity of being lied to and “handled” through public relations programs designed to hold the illusion that everything is okay, the Republican claim that Democrats are the ‘tax-and-spenders’ when in fact the Republicans have spent us into this mess, the wipeout of civil liberties and the frightening changes to the Constitution – better stop now, because the list is too long to go on – burned like shared fury in the hearts of Democrats at the speech tonight.
But Obama took the fury and turned its power into an affirmation that we will find the lost American dream. We will stop the election of another president who actually thinks America is on the right track, and we will elect a man with high morals, an impressive intellect, inspiring leadership skills and beautiful family values.
The march of twenty military commanders who support Obama, the stories from ordinary Americans about their struggles and troubles under Bush, the music, the singing, the fireworks – go ahead, call it show business if you want. But the sight of the dozens of people I could see around me crying with both anger and hope – men in expensive suits breaking into streaming-tears sobs, the hold-tight hugs of strangers and friends and the repeated words among the delegates - “We HAVE to elect him, we HAVE to” as Obama ended his soaring speech – it wasn’t show. It wasn’t. It was the most real political occasion I’ve ever known, and may have been the greatest in American history.
Go ahead, Senator McCain. Just try telling us that the policies of the treacherous Bush administration is the fallen gauntlet you will pick up. We will be busy at campaign work with our neighbors, helping to elect Obama, and we’ll only stop long enough to knock it right out of your hands.
[End of article]
One thing that no amount of TV punditry can take away from last night is the visual spectacle of over 84,000(!) screaming supporters filling Invesco Field. This will stand in sharp contrast to what we will witness next Thursday when McCain accepts the Republican nomination in Minneapolis. He'll be fortunate to fill a 20,000 seat basketball arena with milquetoast supporters lacking both the energy and enthusiasm for the bruising fight they will be facing over the next two months. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the GOP faithful are approaching this campaign season with a mixture of fear and trepidation after Obama's fantastic speech last night!
Comment By Craig Moore, 8-29-08As to the ruination of the economy see: http://www.startribune.com/business/27640889.html?elr=KArks:DCiU1OiP:DiiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
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A welcome surprise on economic news front
The government said that the economy grew much faster in the second quarter than thought. Wall Street pounced on the news.
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM, New York Times
The economy expanded faster from April through June than originally thought, the government said Thursday, catching many economists off guard and cheering investors on Wall Street.
Gross domestic product (GDP) rose at a 3.3 percent clip in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said, a significant jump over the original estimate of 1.9 percent growth. The broadest measure of the nation's economic activity, GDP is considered a good barometer of the country's economic health.
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Of course that is not to say there hasn't been trouble. But I don't think the NYT has been bought by the RNC.
If being president consisted of giving inspiring speeches, I'd gladly join the Obama Faithful! I heard that Oprah was so moved, that her tears caused her false eyelashes to fall off!
(-;
But alas, the president has bigger responsibilities than giving speeches. And I'll be continuing to seriously consider both of the major-party candidates, as well as Bob Barr, the Libertarian (I lean that way - I'm disgusted with BOTH of the major parties. Any objective person will realize that Bush isn't singlehandedly responsible for the situation, either good or bad. His approval numbers are sky-high compared with those of Congress - the Congress that both Obama and McCain are party to.)
The Democrats should pray for a really big Hurricane Gus, for partisan political purposes. It would look really bad if N'Awleans is getting blasted away again, while the Elephant People are partying up north. (In Larry Craig's favorite stopover.)
It's hard to believe that huge spectacle last night (and it was spectacular!) was "carbon neutral." But just the same, we know those Democrats are very concerned about that kind of stuff.
God bless the United States of America.
I would like to vote for Barr, but I learned when I voted for Perot that all I did was help the Clinton Crime Family win. I don't believe the time has yet come for a third party candidate to win the White House.
Comment By flounder, 8-29-08Poor Craig, did you see the punchline to your good news about the economy?
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080829/economy.html
Personal incomes fell by 0.7% last month. What have people been saying about the Bush-McSame economic theory?
Any growth and increases in productivity were/are not passed on in the form of wages or benefits, but were/are taken by the fat cats and used to buy so many houses that they lose count.
So there was an increase in GDP. The American people were rewarded for it by getting a pay cut. Seems to be the McSame old, McSame old.
Hello Economist Craig,
Please take take a fact-based reality check. Over the last 10 years median family income adjusted for inflation has declined by $300 while productivity has risen by 19%. 1.8 million of our fellow citizens go bankrupt every year, probably more this year, -- half driven to bankruptcy by health care costs. In two years the final count on foreclosures will come in ... over 5 million estimated.
The figures of in your cited article were driven by exports and the stimulus package. Exports (2.1% of the increase) means mostly a lot of planes from Boeing. The stimulus package effect is over. In the meantime, inflation is rising, jobs are vanishing, and more people have dropped into poverty. The middle class is squeezed more than ever while the top 5%'s wealth increases beyond even their dreams. Fact: The 400 wealthiest US families, all billionaires, have more wealth than the entire lowest 50%.
In the meantime let's discuss the housing meltdown/credit crisis in Canada. OHHH, there isn't one. Some crazy government regulation there.
Recognize it for what it is: Runaway Capitalism.
"Im playin these white bread ass liberals.These folks is easy cuz the women act like men and the men act like women!They got caught slippin.I say Im a christian but I was raised by a muslim and gots a muslim name,s---!Hey Tyrone!I got 5 on a twenty sac a weed!Praise Alah"!
Comment By Non-Native Liberal, 8-29-08Oh yes 6degrees!We all know the whole campaign lies solely in the number of screaming fans in the arena!And as long as Springsteen is there its a lock!why waste time with an election.And Downtown Missoula knows Banana is going to have a free ride to the Whitehouse!Hell,I'll give him one in my subaru Forrester.It gets21 mpg just like a full sized truck!But Im environmentally conscious and doing my part to prevent carbon build-up in the earths atmosphere.My Subaru Forrester says so.Mom and dad back in Vermont also said so.As did someone down at Caras Park.The best thing about being a liberal is that I can have a girlfriend that looks like John Denver.I look like Moby and also have square frames on my glasses.Im a member of a peer group that represents the majority downtown.I fit in.I am somebody.Im also a vegatarian.But I really want to try sushi...wait that passes as far as liberalism goes.OK Im guess I wont be a vegatarian.Free Tibet!whats that mean anyway?I know its liberal though so thats all that matters.
Comment By Julie in Boise, 8-30-08Jill, once again, thanks for giving those of us stuck at home a glimpse of what it was like to be there.
Despite the mildly hopeful economic news from last quarter, American families remain well behind where we were when Bush and Cheney took office. For BikeBoy and others on the fence, ask yourselves: Which of the two major tickets has its sights fixed firmly on the future, especially the huge energy challenges that await?
We'll all give the GOP its due this week, but the Democrats are clearly committed to green jobs and cleaner energy, which will make more prosperous, healthy, and secure. I'm voting our energy future on November 4, so I'll be voting for Obama-Biden.
P.S. Per your headline ... despite living in Idaho for almost 20 years, I don't feel especially desperate as a Dem. We held the governorship, two of the four seats in Congress, and had a tie in the state Senate a year after I moved here. Things admittedly went well south from there, but the party is on its way back.
Besides, we know the facts are on our side. Trickle-down economics have been roundly discredited, and Idahoans are tired of divisive wedge politics and an ineffective statehouse dominated by one party. It's just a matter of Idaho catching up to the rest of the Mountain West and giving Democrats a chance to lead, just as the citizens of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico have done.
Um, Craig, remember when you were telling us that Republicans weren't racist? You want to explain how your friend Rose Mary and now this banana guy aren't racist?
Comment By Craig Moore, 8-30-08While flounder cowardly hides behind his mask and libels real people with smears of racism, he should remember that rocks from glass houses lead to a shattered reality.
As to charges of racism see: http://www.voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/08/the_case_against_joe_biden.html
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In the summer of 2006, as he was publicly mulling the race, Biden set off a controversy over comments he made about Indian Americans.
"I've had a great relationship [with Indian Americans]," Biden said. "In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking."
On the day he formally announced his candidacy, a New York Observer story that quoted Biden as calling Obama "articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy" came out, and the resultant uproar effectively undercut any momentum Biden was hoping to build.
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So you are saying that your friend Rose Mary threatening Obama with a sawed-off shotgun is not racism? Just so we are clear on that.
Comment By Craig Moore, 8-30-08flounder, you are pointing in the wrong direction. Bidens words and Obama's 20 year attendance at a vile, racially devisive, goddamn America church is where you should focus your attention.
But I will continue to say that you are a coward as you hide behide your mask with your libelous remarks about others who have the courage to use their own names.
I bet "Barack Banana" is using his real name to spread his racism. And for all we know, Rose Mary might be a secret Stormfront assassin code name. Who knows?
In fact, wasn't the operative code-named "Rose Mary" the one that always writes the songs you like to praise? Since "Barack banana" also wrote a song, perhaps "Rose Mary", who might be hiding from the secret service, is now disguising their identity by using the name "Barack banana"? Both are lyrical racists, so who knows?
Besides, I know what Republicans like to do when they find out people's names. Republican leaders like Michelle Malkin start advertising their home addresses and phone numbers, and the death threats and harrassment from the "moral majority" dead-enders start rolling in. How do I know secret op "Rose Mary" wouldn't show up at my house with a "sawed off shotgun" if I used my real name? Rose Mary threatens presidential candidates, so I wouldn't put it past him/her.
http://www.americablog.com/2006/04/top-republican-blogger-posts-phone.html
I don't blame you for your frustrations and attempts at distraction, you are part of an empty and message-less syndicate, and you are grasping at straws.
flounder, the stripe up you back is yellow. The mask you wear is that of a coward. Your rhetoric is shameful, offensive, personal, and libelous. If NW allows this to continue there is something drastically wrong.
That being said you reveal you have absolutely nothing of substance to repair Biden's and Obama's troubles. The distraction and smokescreen are entirely yours.
You learn something new everyday....Today I learned that racism is when one is threatened with a sawed off shot-gun.By the way,you have said nothing that makes any sense flounder.Your a turd dude.
Comment By flounder, 8-31-08You can call my mama a punk.You can call me Sally.But dont you NEVER,EVER call me a TURD!You guys think your so smart running around here with you big pumpkin heads acting like your Hubert Fletcher or Jane fonda.Well let me tell you something else!Obama will make damn well sure that there are no more feelings hurt on newwest!Up yours B-holes!
Comment By Jill Kuraitis, 8-31-08This discussion violates our comment policy and is now closed. Flounder, Bendover, banana, memorize our policy before commenting again on New West.
Comment By Jill Kuraitis, 8-31-08IMPORTANT UPDATE TO CLOSING DISCUSSION ON OBAMA SPEECH ARTICLE: The person posting as "flounder" is not the New West regular commenter who uses the name. This "flounder" is an impersonator. Please make note of this the next time you see a comment using that name, and do not assume the real "flounder" is rude, as this one has been. -- Jill
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