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You can’t love your country only when you win.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Everybody saw this coming.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

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Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

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Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

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A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2008 / The Speech, After Having Slept On It

The Speech, After Having Slept On It

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I still think it was quite a show, and I think the thing that stood out to me was the full-throated nature of it. The “Enough!” and the “He won’t even follow him to the cave where he lives” and the “We all put our country first” were the first times I can remember when a Democrat signaled as clearly and as loudly that he is willing to fight.

While the entire speech was pretty solid, and I thought had a nice flow, this portion stuck out to me:

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? It’s worked before, because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn’t work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it’s best to stop hoping and settle for what you already know.

I get it. I realize that I am 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.

Thomas Franks, call your office. Remember the “bitter” remarks, when supporters like yours truly pointed out that Obama’s comments, while not carefully scripted, were spot on? Here it is again, polished and perfected and still as true today as they were then. The Republicans have won the past few years by in part scaring the hell out of everyone with terrorism and national security issues, but by making elections about nonsense ballot issues that stir up the right-wing b ase but really do nothing for the people of America.

This also was something I have discussed at length:

What the naysayers don’t understand is that this election has never been about me; it’s about you.

(APPLAUSE)

It’s about you.

We talked about this before discussing the differences between the standard Clinton speech and the standard Obama speech. yesterday, I was IM’ing a friend that I wish I could get hold of the Obama campaign to tell them to put a line like that in there. Actually, what I wanted him to say was that when the GOP attacks Obama for drawing large crowds and being a celebrity, the people they are really attacking is not Obama, but the crowd. You don’t know what you want, you are just dazzled by a smooth talker. You don’t have critical thinking skills, you are just awed by his celebrity. That is what the McCain celebrity attacks are really saying.

At any rate, a lot can be said about the speech, and I am sure a lot will in the next few days. I think it was a very fine speech, and it got the job done with gusto. Again, the thing that really stands out most to me is that Obama is signaling to everyone- Not this time. Not this candidate. I fight back.

*** Update ***

The Slacktivist makes my second point better than I did:

It’s become fashionable — particularly among a certain kind of Stevensonian elite — to dismiss Obama’s oratory and rhetoric as, by definition, insubstantial. The implication, often explicit, is that his audiences are rubes, idiots spellbound by a lot of pretty talk. But it is precisely the substance, not the style, of Obama’s oratory that has been winning over his audiences. That substance is egalitarian, democratic, inclusive and aspirational — precisely the opposite of elitist or condescending.

Reader Interactions

22Comments

  1. 1.

    leo

    “…when the GOP attacks Obama for drawing large crowds and being a celebrity, the people they are really attacking is not Obama, but the crowd.”

    Actually what they’re really attacking is American Democracy. I mean we have a form of government whose entire lifeblood depends on the participation of its members. The only difference with Obama is that we get a level of participation almost off the scales.

    All the rightwing juvenile sneering is nothing but contempt for all of this, reminiscent of the aristocracy and its attitude towards popular sovereignty in the 18th Century.

  2. 2.

    mark

    John, as a Democratic convert, what do you make of the laundry list of program proposals? I agree it was a great speech, and this was the only thing that was disappointingly conventional for me.

  3. 3.

    rawshark

    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.

    I had a ‘Josh Lyman sitting in the back of a townhall listening to a candidate finally say what needs to be said’ moment when I heard that line.

  4. 4.

    Zifnab

    John, as a Democratic convert, what do you make of the laundry list of program proposals?

    That’s the content, dude. You can’t give a big flowery speech about how you are going to benefit the nation with your wisdom and leadership if you don’t spell out exactly what policies you plan to put in place.

    “I’m going to lower your taxes” doesn’t mean much when your opponent can just fire back, “No he’s not! He’s going to raise your taxes!” Saying, specifically, that you will offer an $X tax credit or an $X increase to a tax credit gives people something to go back to their tax returns on and say, “Hey, this really will make me better off.”

  5. 5.

    TEAK111

    Good speech, Was not comfortable with some of the government as your daddy rhetoric. That is the econocon in me, but he hammered at McCain and Bush and that needed to be done. Watched the speech with my 13 and 15 year olds. They are very interested. Wife wanted to watch Judge Judy, oye! Next, we’ll have fun poking fun at grandpa’s party. And how bout that new eye candy VP?

    Speaking of awkward moments, did you catch this LA Times photo from last night?

    Barak, meet Mrs. Biden

  6. 6.

    Krista

    The Speech, After Having Slept On It

    Did you sleep with it under your pillow? ‘Cause that’s just soooo romantic.

  7. 7.

    Incertus

    Actually what they’re really attacking is American Democracy. I mean we have a form of government whose entire lifeblood depends on the participation of its members.

    Which is why it’s really no shock that the current incarnation of the Republican party is constantly looking for ways to depress voter turnout and keep groups of people from the polls. It’s in their lifeblood.

  8. 8.

    Jim

    It’s become fashionable—particularly among a certain kind of Stevensonian elite—to dismiss Obama’s oratory and rhetoric as, by definition, insubstantial. The implication, often explicit, is that his audiences are rubes, idiots spellbound by a lot of pretty talk. But it is precisely the substance, not the style, of Obama’s oratory that has been winning over his audiences. That substance is egalitarian, democratic, inclusive and aspirational—precisely the opposite of elitist or condescending.

    That is EXACTLY the discussion I had last night with a very good friend. He said the only way he could think people could be in favor of Obama was because of his “Rock Star charisma.” Now, my friend is very intelligent, but implying that I’m nothing more than a groupie for supporting Obama was incredibly insulting.

  9. 9.

    mrmobi

    I still think it was quite a show, and I think the thing that stood out to me was the full-throated nature of it. The “Enough!”

    Completely agree on that, John. I thought it was his most emotional moment in any of the speeches I’ve seen or heard.

    If this primary campaign and this convention are examples of Obama’s skills in hiring the right people and keeping them focused and achieving goals, we have a lot to look forward to, once we get him elected.

  11. 11.

    cyntax

    Here’s something fun: grab the text from the Obama speech (or any other text that srtikes your fancy) and head over to wordle.net to make a word cloud of it using their nifty java applet.

    You know, to kill the time while waiting for the server here to come back up.

  12. 12.

    Rick Taylor

    Via Atrios:

    Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention was seen by more than 38 million people.

    Nielsen Media Research said more people watched Obama speak than watched the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing….

    So what’s the Republican bullshit explanation for this is going to be do you suppose? Was there a rockband playing on the same channel afterwards? Was he giving out free beer?

  14. 14.

    CT

    He could have stopped after “Enough!” and that would have been eno… um…sufficient for me. Equal parts uplift and smackdown-could not have been better.

  15. 15.

    HumboldtBlue

    For over two decades, he’s subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy – give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is – you’re on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps – even if you don’t have boots. You’re on your own.

    Well it’s time for them to own their failure.

    That’s what really worked for me. And yeah, ol’ Pat pulling that speech to his nose was an odd, disconcerting moment of live television, but he, like all of us, was moved. Populist rhetoric tends to make people sit up and take notice.

  16. 16.

    zuzu's petals

    John, could we please take up a collection so you can upgrade your server?

    I pledge $50.

  17. 17.

    John S.

    LOL

    And yet, the ratfuckers are still giving their all over at TalkCrazy:

    A woman, a former union member, an outsider to Washington.

    Meet the next Vice President.

    by myiq2xu on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:27:52 AM EST

    I just watched her for five minutes…this woman is definitely a game-changer.

    by p lukasiak on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:39:58 AM EST

    But honestly, we’re not ratfuckers! We were gonna support Obama except for all that… stuff!

    Pathetic.

  18. 18.

    dmsilev

    Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention was seen by more than 38 million people.
    Nielsen Media Research said more people watched Obama speak than watched the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing….

    So what’s the Republican bullshit explanation for this is going to be do you suppose? Was there a rockband playing on the same channel afterwards? Was he giving out free beer?

    That’s easy: Obviously, Barack Obama’s campaign is being run by the same Hollywood-Communist axis that produced the opening ceremony at Beijing. More people showed up because all the Muslims tuned in to see one of their own.

    Duh.

    -dms

  19. 19.

    Zifnab

    And yet, the ratfuckers are still giving their all over at TalkCrazy:

    Economic policy? Iraq position? Environmental stance? Who cares! SHOW US YOUR BOOBS!

    McCain / Vajajay in ’08!

    Because if you’re going to be a single-issue voter, don’t let it be a policy issue.

  20. 20.

    SGEW

    By the way, as long as B-J is acting all apoplectic again (fundraiser time?), why don’t a few of y’all go pipe up at Marc “I can scoop the MSM by tracking small planes” Ambinder for a while?

    He has one of his rare open threads up.

  21. 21.

    Tax Analyst

    handy Says:

    Your. Server. Sucks.

    Yeah, me too. It’s been pretty hard just to GET to the site today. Once inside it’s nearly impossible to actually click the “Submit” button and have anything happen.

    I’ve had to satisfy my blog-lust needs elsewhere this morning. I hope you’re happy now, John.

    …not that this post will ever actually see the light of day.

    Well, here goes…wish me luck…

  22. 22.

    Bey

    ol’ Pat pulling that speech to his nose was an odd, disconcerting moment of live television

    All of us who are 50+ knew exactly what Pat was doing. He was trying to read something in crappy lighting without his cheaters. I look just like him, only way cuter.

    Laugh while you can, monkey boy! Your day is coming ;)

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