You may have heard that history was made tonight. After an up-and-down convention, Obama hit his speech out of the park. And it was an awfully big park.
It was a tightly constructed, pitch-perfect speech. Obama came out feisty, challenging McCain directly and by name. Then he shifted briefly into wonk mode, laying out some of his policies for those who are too busy to check his web page. (My words, not his.) And he concluded by bringing out some of the soaring rhetoric that he does best. Here’s the text. And a tiny excerpt:
America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can’t just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose - our sense of higher purpose. And that’s what we have to restore.
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 for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s 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 brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don’t know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or 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 common effort.
Tomorrow we can be all analytic and careful. Tonight, I’m just enjoying this.
August 28th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
“Soaring rhetoric” *again*? Jeez. Give us a break.
Obama: the sophomore’s candidate.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
It was a great speech. And in another sign of desperation, the McCain campaign released another attack ad tonight. Very poor form.
I thought he did everything he had to do in the speech. I hope America agrees.
I loved the fact that he dragged Phil Gramm’s comment into it “A nation of whiners”. I would have like to see him refer to Carly Fiorna’s negative comments about working Americans as she outsourced jobs at HP.
e.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
His speech four years ago was better…
Housemates and I were sitting around watching this speech and one thing we could all agree on was, all political beliefs and even outcome of the election aside, the fact that he was giving this speech tonight was something to be proud of as a nation. Just a few years ago, no one would have believed it.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
“sophomore’s candidate?”
Well at least Obama doesn’t refer to Vladimir Putin as “the President of Germany” and educate Diane Sawyer on the “Iraq/Pakistan border” - he actually has his marbles intact.
Awesome speech. Brilliant. This man does America proud.
I’m an Irish/Canadian with a deep fondness for our neighbors to the south, and it has sickened me to see how the current administration has brought the name “America” into disrepute.
Obama:
“What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose - our sense of higher purpose. And that’s what we have to restore.”
Right on.
August 29th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Great speech, but he still can’t answer a straight question with a straight answer. On the chance he’s elected, he’ll disappoint us as president, just like all of the past slick talking, tell-them-what-they-want-to-hear, hot air filled professional politicians with suspicious connections to who-knows-what in the Chicago market that donates to Illinois senators. He’s not going to save the world. What we have is a bowl of barley soup next to a bowl of shit, so that makes the barley soup look delicious.
August 29th, 2008 at 12:37 am
i’m not a particular fan of most of obama’s domestic agenda, and i’ve not decided who to vote for. But i have to agree with yvette, he does america (and himself) proud. what a speech!
August 29th, 2008 at 12:52 am
Out of all the great excerpts, you pick that one? How about, “they don’t serve a red America, or a blue America, they serve the Untied States of America!”
Or many others.
August 29th, 2008 at 1:29 am
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August 29th, 2008 at 4:25 am
I’m a bit worried that the economic policies of Bush and his forebears Bush Sr. and Raegan have already doomed the US to some severe economic downturns in the very near future.
All we need right now is for the US dollar to be devalued to the point where there’s runaway selling of US treasury bonds as investments, and hyperinflation will ensue. Remember that brokers are already moving away from US treasury bonds. If we don’t stabilize the value of the dollar right now, even if Obama wins and is the best president the US has ever elected, there’s just no way that he can save the US from this.
So, the US is now teetering on the knife’s edge. Obama at least has a chance of bringing us back, but it may not be possible for anybody. We’ll see what happens in the coming months, but bear in mind that the onset of hyperinflation will be exponential. If it happens, it will happen without any apparent warning. One day, your dollar will be worth something. The next day it won’t. I’m more than a little scared for my family at this prospect (though it will mean I won’t have any problem paying off my debts, as I’m being paid in Euros).
What is certain, however, is that electing McCain virtually guarantees the collapse of the US economy. He will continue the economic policies of Bush and company, and doing so at the current time will only serve to destroy the value of the US dollar, and with it the livelihood of nearly every citizen of the United States. Even if, by some amazing coincidence, this collapse is staved off beyond his presidency, the added debt that a McCain presidency will incur will simply make it impossible to pay it back. It may already be impossible.
August 29th, 2008 at 6:05 am
The dollar is roughly on the order of where it should be relative to thirty year marks. It was very high at one point during the early 2ks so its no surprise it fell (not to mention the current account deficit was unsustainable) Actually its really the Euro thats overvalued b/c their central bank has kept their interest rates at a crazy pace for awhile now.
Either way, as the European economy goes into recession their interest rates will go down, the Euro will devalue, the dollar will rise relatively and we’ll be back to where it should be. These things are very cyclical, and have absolutely nothing to do with US president’s economic policies (other than their power to elect the head of the Fed).
August 29th, 2008 at 7:16 am
“The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals.”
Unfortunately, that means ban anything that is not politically correct. News flash, it is already illegal for criminals to possess firearms as well as to shoot people. You think one more law will change that?
August 29th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Obama has the same effect on me as Bush. When either of them is on TV I change the channel. Still I watched a few minutes of it without swooning.
He mentioned several times that he wanted to “debate” McCain
Oh really? That is why he pledged earlier this year and last year that if he were to be the democratic nominee he would agree to townhall discussions with McCain to discuss the issues.Just words?
Then McCain wanted more than the minimum of 3 debates and Obama campaign said no. Just words?
Yeah just words.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:20 am
awesome to see the whiners out in full force.
not just on here, just about every article on the web you see is followed by some comment saying that all Obama has are words.
come on this all you got, where’s the swiftboat spirit!
these detraction just make them sound loser-ish.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:30 am
“Just words?
Yeah just words.”
Obama is nothing more than the lesser of two evils. Anybody can point to the Bush legacy and declare a disaster. Is he qualified to be president? A third Clinton term would have been the safer choice IMO. If Obama gets elected, it will be 3 and a half years before he gets the training wheels off. It takes time to get dialed in, and Clinton was already dialed in.
Our economy will go through the same phases that it did in the aftermath of the Viet Nam war. Stupid unnecessary wars are very costly. What devalues our money is when we dilute it by printing more in order to pay for the war.
The “Change” is going to be nothing more than a different flavor of hot air.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Let’s be real honest, this whole election isn’t about who will be president. It’s about who that president will appoint to various governmental organizations.
Do you really want those incompetent neocons in the highest levels of our government for another four years? In the DoJ? In the state department? In the EPA, FDA, FCC, TSA, DHS, FEMA, et cetera?
If anything, Obama is pragmatic and he’s intelligent. He’ll appoint people who are actually capable of doing their jobs.
Will McCain? Who knows? Clearly he’s made a pact with the devil. He’s got neocons all throughout his campaign. How many favors will he owe them if he wins? I don’t know about you, but I don’t relish the idea of having Liberty University alumni crawling around in my government again.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:06 am
I am a Barak Obama supporter, but I didn’t feel that his speech resonated with me. Although it was inspiring, I don’t know if it carried any political punch. Successful candidates tend to have those quick “soundbyte” blurbs that define their campaign, and I thought his would have some of those things.
Perhaps I am still disappointed in Biden’s pick for VP. Which is petty, since VPs are relatively low on the importance scale (unless you’re Cheney, who unfortunately has been very important). Obama’s comments about McCain’s long-tenured residence in politics could have been followed by cameras cutting to Biden for his reaction, but thankfully they did not.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Pollyanna.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:17 am
With Obama directing Bob Bauer to send a letter to the justice department to urge the prosecution of Harold Simmons (a GOP political donor), I’m a little more worried about who Obama would appoint to federal offices. Are we going to start jailing political opponents? And don’t forget Obama and crew threatened TV stations that ran/were going to run the ad. When did cracking down on free speech become part of the game-plan for democrats? The ad the group is running about Obama’s connection to Ayers is factually true - but I guess we dare not criticize Obama.
August 29th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Haelfix,
I’ve heard this sentiment before, but I can’t honestly see why you think that it’s actually true.
Now, we wouldn’t have these issues if it weren’t for the monstrous national debt that the US has incurred. If the national debt was still a small percentage of the GDP, then it would be fundamentally impossible for any amount of speculation on the value of US currency and bonds to have any significant impact on the value of the dollar.
But this is not the case. All that needs to happen is for investors to start to believe that US bonds are a bad investment, and they’ll start shifting their investments away. This devalues the dollar, which causes investments in US bonds to be even worse, which makes more investors turn away, etc.
What I’m hoping for here is that Obama wins, and that he listens to some very intelligent economic advisors to fix this problem. Because if we don’t, well, it’s going to be nasty. Obama at least has the capacity to be one of the persons more likely to solve this problem, if anybody can.
August 29th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
[…] Obama for his Democratic nomination for president, officially accepted last night (image from CV): and to Sarah Palin for being the VP choice on the GOP ticket: Sarah […]
August 29th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I will be the first to admit that the speeches of Obama have hit me in the heart, and even brought tears to my eyes on a few occasions…
(ok, i cry at the little tramps speech at the end of the “Great Dictator” too)
Yes it’s high flying, yes it’s grand, yes it is “Soaring rhetoric” …
But when true leaders lead, they lead big… they say, “Let’s put a man on the moon.” “Give me liberty or give me death.”
Obama has made his mission clear, and very big…
He will act in accordance to those claims or reap the whirlwind…
I prefer this to those that only offer whirlwinds to begin with…
Wake up America!!!
(ok, that was Kucinich’s speech… it was sort of the condensed version of Obama’s)
-j-
August 29th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
[…] Cosmic Variance […]
August 30th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Obama answers the science debate 2008 14 questions!
http://www.sciencedebate2008.com/www/index.php?id=40
“Ensuring that the U.S. continues to lead the world in science and technology will be a central priority for my administration.”
“we are clearly under-investing in research across the spectrum of scientific and engineering disciplines”
“My administration will increase funding for basic research in physical and life sciences, mathematics, and engineering at a rate that would double basic research budgets over the next decade.”
oh no… i’m tearing up again… *sniff*
August 31st, 2008 at 9:07 am
It would be great if politics and science would be two parts of this blog.
September 1st, 2008 at 2:36 am
it would also be great if scientific funding wasn’t in the hands of politics…
September 1st, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Now that Senator Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee, let us
examine his record.
Obama supports a total handgun ban, even going so far as to vote
against a bill allowing homeowners to assert self-defense if they used
banned handguns to defend themselves from an attack by an intruder.
Obama defended infanticide, voting down a bill that would require
medical care for babies born as a result of a botched abortion, even
though the bill contained Roe neutral language.
Obama said that ICE immigration raids terrorize communities, even as
illegal aliens kill people like Tony Bologna.
September 1st, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Michael Ejercito,
All of that sounds quite good to me.
September 1st, 2008 at 8:07 pm
he must be a pro Obama troll…
September 1st, 2008 at 8:48 pm
After Dick Cheney’s little adventure/misadventure in Caucasus, when Russia decides to follow Iran’s example and no longer accept USD for it’s oil and natural gas but ony to accept Euro’s and Japanese Yen. This will have a very serious effect on the long term value of the dollar and probably presage a massive collapse into a black hole (well this is a physics blog).
Putin’s accusation of Cheney using the Georian adventure to stir up things to get McCain elected, suggests that this policy change could happen on McCain’s watch if he gets elected. The fact that Putin said this means he hopes for an Obama presidency. I guess he thinks it will be possible to work with him. So the collapse of the petrodollar is not inevitable over the short term if you guys over there elect Obama.
Not that I personally have all that much hope in an Obama presidency. The president, no matter who he is, has to serve the interest’s of the owner’s of the American Empire. The big banking interests in New York, the military industrial complex primarily in California and Washington State and of course Texas and the oil companies.
He may shift the emphasis by balancing the interest of the different sectors that comprise the corporate control of the American Empire from the Neocon approach of direct military aggression to control the natural resources of the world and to prevent the development of any alternative centres of economic and political power to the neoliberal one where the control for the same objectives is carried out primarily by the big US-UK international banks and international institutions like the IMF and WTO. The military strength of the US being held as a threat in reserve.
So Obama at best is merely the lesser of two evils. Any way guys enjoy your election and remember he who controls the voting machines controls the …
September 8th, 2008 at 2:44 am
dear americans!
your country is in deep shit!
and you need to restore the economy by decreasing your military budget look at the following data:
1. entire world military budget is 1100 mlrd USD, the leader is USA with 650 mlrd USD, PRC takes the 2nd place with 60 mlrd USD, 10 mlrd less from PRC is Russia, the rest is for other 135 countries;
2. since 2004 US foreign trade debt has been increased by 72%!!! from 5.5 to 9.5 trln USD that is a lot!!!
America is to stop tricks with wars and agression, it’s time to concentrate on your own internal problems, o/w in the nearest future USA will become a history…
hope Obama will stop America from falling into the hellhole…
warm wishes and have a good luck