Man. If you'd asked me yesterday to list Barack Obama's strengths and weaknesses, I would have told you he's much more impressive giving a formal speech than on a debate stage. But it's doubly-impressive all over again when you see him giving a big formal speech -- he's much better in this format. I somehow doubt that a broad swathe of Americans are sitting at home on a Saturday night (though maybe in California where it's only a quarter past six), but if they are I think they'll be very impressed. When forgotten element of this campaign is that even though Obama's given several speeches that are quite well-known among political junkies, most voters have almost certainly never sat and watched him deliver one.
« Which to Believe? | Main | K-Lo's Take »
Big Speech
26 Jan 2008 09:07 pm
Comments (44)
When forgotten element of this campaign is that even though Obama's given several speeches that are quite well-known among political junkies, most voters have almost certainly never sat and watched him deliver one.
Oh, bullshit, Matt.
He was the Keynote speaker of the Democratic Convention. He has since had minutes of speeches to whole speeches run on the MSM to adulating media that love oratory. Tens of millions of new Obamites have watched him on U-Tube.
Yes there are tens of millions of apolitical people that never have donated to a Party, rarely vote, never have listened to a speech in their lives. They don't count.
Can somebody link to this speech when it gets on YouTube?
Obama's speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church on the eve of Martin Luther King Day was the fourth most watched video on you-tube for 10 days after the event - a 34 minute long political speech! His message is getting out there.
I can tell you my wife is one of the people who just saw him speak for the first time and had the reaction that Matt anticipated.
But, she's a German and doesn't get to vote, so I guess it's a wash.
Hell of a good speech tonight - nailed the Clintons, without ever naming them, as the establishment, status quo, Iraq-authorizing and generally nasty candidates - and made the point that people are sick of the same old Washington lies and divisiveness and fear and cynicism. This ought to go big on Youtube - and it is a great way to hammer home the key themes. Can't see the Clintons having a good response to this - and now Bill is trying to say that Jesse Jackson won SC - and so, by implication, those hicks in the boondocks just don't count! Obama ought to have this in the campaign ads - what the Clintons really think of the USA when it doesn't do what they want.
Let's just get it out there--that this political season is about discovering whether America is just politically braindead, and whether it is just too cynical to rescue itself from whipped-dog pessimism (or kneejerk antimodernism).
There's no question anymore that this win will give Obama significant momentum.
The question will be whether it's enough to put him over the top on Feb 5 and beyond.
The Clinton campaign probably needs to go ahead and break their pledge not to campaign in Florida and maybe convince Edwards to do the same. They need to get the attention on that state.
Why would the Dems want a guy like Obama as their candidate? I mean, yeah, the guy can talk, and he won by 28%, and young whites in SC voted overwhelmingly for him, and he puts several states in the south in play, BUT I'm watching Sen. Clinton give a speech right now and I'm at the edge of my zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....
Why would the Dems want a guy like Obama as their candidate? I mean, yeah, the guy can talk, and he won by 28%, and young whites in SC voted overwhelmingly for him, and he puts several states in the south in play, BUT I'm watching Sen. Clinton give a speech right now and I'm at the edge of my zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....
Guess Clinton must really be afraid of SC folks, judging by how she dropped trou and scurried off into the night. What a coward, not to even manage a short, gracious speech. Not just a loser, but a sore, whiny loser.
-------
THE TRUTH ABOUT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA
(1) He was accepted into Columbia and Harvard because of affirmative action (not academic merit)
(2) His black nationalist church in Chicago has called for the execution of all white people.
Need I say more? I'm not even going to mention his proclivity for raping white women.
--------88888
-------
THE TRUTH ABOUT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA
(1) He was accepted into Columbia and Harvard because of affirmative action (not academic merit)
(2) His black nationalist church in Chicago has called for the execution of all white people.
Need I say more? I'm not even going to mention his proclivity for raping white women.
--------8888888888888888888888888888
How typically classless of the Clintons to send Bill out to surrender the sword, tonight. Glad to see Hillary falling flat giving her stump speech. The Clintons thought they could get double the face time and instead they were both ignored by the media.
Whoever told Hillary that it would be smart to give a stump speech that the cabloids would then cut off... deserves firing. Yes, she doesn't have the oratorical chops, but you don't cede control of your message to producers in that way.
Obama's trying to wrap repudiation of the Bush years into repudiation of the Clintons, and that's actually a saleable argument, particularly for those who remember 2000.
"THE TRUTH ABOUT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA
(1) He was accepted into Columbia and Harvard because of affirmative action (not academic merit)
(2) His black nationalist church in Chicago has called for the execution of all white people.
Need I say more? I'm not even going to mention his proclivity for raping white women.
Posted by Liz Matheson | January 26, 2008 9:59 PM"
Why howdy again, Bill. How do you like them SC apples now, eh? And do pass on our regards to the First Carpetbagger - and get her to stop wearing yellow. It may be her natural color, but looking like a demented canary really does not help. PS. Please, don't keep switching names like this - Hillary works quite well for you.
Big win for Obama. I vote Feb. 5th and still don't know who it'll be for. On the one hand, Obama seems like he could have more potential upside, electorally speaking--I fantasize about 40-state landslides against Romney--and the press seems to love him, with even Scarborough praising him to the skies.
The other part of me, though, watches the press on their continuing witch-hunt against the Clintons and wonders just how long it'll be before they turn on Obama. What I'd really like to see in this primary season would be for him to survive a full-throated blast from those bastards to see if he can take the heat.
Alas, it doesn't seem likely we'll find that out until he wins the nomination--Matthews will love him to death so long as he's opposing the bitch queen, I'm sure.
When forgotten element of this campaign is that even though Obama's given several speeches that are quite well-known among political junkies, most voters have almost certainly never sat and watched him deliver one.
One forgotten?
I type stupid mistakes all the time, but I wish mine could be as awesome as Matt's near-homophone errors.
but I wish mine could be as awesome as Matt's near-homophone errors.
That's easy. "Write" your blog posts with dictation software.
hey, tell me, I'm an idiotic politics junkie who has recently wasted a tremendous amount of time reading blog comments. I've read the Atlantic before and hold it in high regard, but I haven't read it recently.
Nor have I read this blog, although i recall yglesias from TPM.
Is the quality going to suffer now that people have free access to the blog? Is the insane posting about Obama being a rapist
1) actually trencant or witty or sarcastic in some way i don't comprehend?
2) evidence that these comment strings only get mucked up only when they're free to everyone?
3) evidence that I'm totally confused and this blog has been publicly available for some time already?
Combining the votes of the Republican and Democratic primaries, Obama beat McCain by 2 to 1.
Obama 295,214
McCain 147,733
Clinton 141,217
Huckabee 132,990
Edwards 93,576
Thompson 69,681
Romney 68,177
Paul 16,155
Giuliani 9,575
Other 3,827
445,677 voted in the Republican primary last week;
532,486 voted in the Democratic primary today.
Ron Paul beat Giuliani.
Source: http://www.scvotes.org/
I'm too jaded to get "inspired" by "oratory", but I have to give mad props to Obama's speech tonight on two specific points:
1) The "future versus the past" riff sounded encouragingly like a dress rehearsal for the kind of rhetoric he will have to use against McCain; and
2) The "war that should never have been authorized and never should have been fought" line is a clear marker for the general election campaign.
The Republicans have all nailed their colors to the mast, on Iraq. If Obama is willing to equate "the politics of common sense" with repudiation of that insane adventure, I am willing to put up with vacuous verses about "coming together" and "transcending divisions".
-- TP
One thing that doesn't get much attention is that not only is Obama good at giving speeches, but the speeches themselves are really well written:
And what we've seen in these last weeks is that we're also up against forces that are not the fault of any one campaign, but feed the habits that prevent us from being who we want to be as a nation.
Brilliant use of drug imagery. He's saying the Clintons are dealers who are selling the drug of racism and keeping the 'hood down (and like all successful dealers, they use the drug themselves). He's basically taking the race card and throwing it back in their faces.
One thing that doesn't get much attention is that not only is Obama good at giving speeches, but the speeches themselves are really well written:
And what we've seen in these last weeks is that we're also up against forces that are not the fault of any one campaign, but feed the habits that prevent us from being who we want to be as a nation.
Brilliant use of drug imagery. He's saying the Clintons are dealers who are selling the drug of racism and keeping the 'hood down (and like all successful dealers, they don't use the drug themselves). He's basically taking the race card and throwing it back in their faces.
Matt - You would be surprised about how many people watched his speech tonight. My husband and I went out for dinner this evening. Our waiter in an Indian restaurant saw us picked up the voting results on my husband's blackberry and asked for information. He was overjoyed. After dinner, we were walking down the street and saw the TV on in pizzeria. Obama was giving his speech. All the pizza guys in their white shirts had come out from behind the counter and out from the kitchen and were watching the speech. We went in and watched the speech with those guys. I've never seen anything like that before.
Very inspiring public speaker, indeed. And he really seems to believe what he is saying. I see that side of him in debates as well (which I agree are not his strongest suite) i.e. he is genuine and answers questions honestly. It is refreshing.
Yes there are tens of millions of apolitical people that never have donated to a Party, rarely vote, never have listened to a speech in their lives. They don't count.
They didn't count until now, that is.
I was sitting in a bar in rural California tonight with the rallies on at the bar TV. The bartender said "I lean Republican, but I don't think they have a chance. I'd much rather have Obama than Clinton."
I watched the speech, and I never watch these kinds of speeches. I made a point of watching it because I think we really are seeing history, and I think a lot of people feel the same way.
I believe this: someday -- this year, or down the line -- Obama will be the first AA president in history, and when he does so, he will enjoy a honeymoon the likes of which this country has never seen before. EVERYONE will want to see him succeed, and he will.
I watched the speech, and I never watch these kinds of speeches. I made a point of watching it because I think we really are seeing history, and I think a lot of people feel the same way.
I believe this: someday -- this year, or down the line -- Obama will be the first AA president in history, and when he does so, he will enjoy a honeymoon the likes of which this country has never seen before. EVERYONE will want to see him succeed, and he will.
Tonight's speech brought tears to my eyes and made me believe anything's possible once again. Obama was in top form, he's pretty much unparalleled when in comes to the inspirational oratory. In debates, he tends to speak in paragraphs, not headlines, lacking strong, punchy endings. To my mind, that's evidence of his calm, reasoning (and reasonable) style but what do I know. The masses probaby want the red meat oneliners, even though they're almost always scripted. Obama might do well to adopt a strategy of buying half hour blocks of media time, making an event out of it (simultaneous speech to 22 states, or something like that) and then just talk to the camera, or play back one (or a montage) of his speeches (Dem Convention, Jefferson/Jackson dinner, Iowa victory, MLK Day, S. Carolina victory) -- there are many to choose from. This would allow him to play to his strength -- as an inspirational leader in the JFK mold.
Tonight's speech brought tears to my eyes and made me believe anything's possible once again. Obama was in top form, he's pretty much unparalleled when in comes to the inspirational oratory. In debates, he tends to speak in paragraphs, not headlines, lacking strong, punchy endings. To my mind, that's evidence of his calm, reasoning (and reasonable) style but what do I know. The masses probaby want the red meat oneliners, even though they're almost always scripted. Obama might do well to adopt a strategy of buying half hour blocks of media time, making an event out of it (simultaneous speech to 22 states, or something like that) and then just talk to the camera, or play back one (or a montage) of his speeches (Dem Convention, Jefferson/Jackson dinner, Iowa victory, MLK Day, S. Carolina victory) -- there are many to choose from. This would allow him to play to his strength -- as an inspirational leader in the JFK mold.
Garth, I think one of his most overlooked pieces of oratory was his Call to Renewal Address on Reconciling Faith and Politics. That speech goes somewhat slow, but it was less an uplifting speech than a piece of intricate rhetoric summarizing his views on religion.
This speech is part of the reason I love the prospect of an Obama candidacy. Evangelicals will be skeptical about the muslim thing early on, but once evangelicals see a candidate who speaks to them(not pandering, merely speaking to; no quid pro quo) I think he can win a whole bunch of former Huckabee supporters. That'll put him over the top against McCain and definitely Romney.
Whoops(forgot to paste)
I'm an atheist, by the way, but I fully believe if we can make a bunch of bible belt people into Jesus Christ Socialists, I'm perfectly fine with it.
So now he wins seven states on February 5 instead of five. Hooray. Excellent speech but "It's about the past versus the future" and "change the status quo" isn't much of a pivot. It will be interesting to see what the Obama campaign comes up with over the next nine days.
Before Obama breaks with the past he might want to take a look at this:
We stand at the end of a long dark night of reaction. We stand tonight united in the commitment to a new direction. For almost eight years we've been led by those who view social good coming from private interest, who view public life as a means to increase private wealth. They have been prepared to sacrifice the common good of the many to satisfy the private interests and the wealth of a few.
Hey Abe, I'm the same as you! I love the Call to Renewal Address. I'm an atheist too and view his religiousness positively. Although I wouldn't say JC Socialists heh. I'm happy with non-literalism and turning back the tide of fundamentalism most of all.
American's are starved for a President who can speak in complete sentences. Bush is a national embarrassment. He disgraces us every time he opens his mouth. If he could speak well and defend his un defendable war his approval would be at 50%, easy.
On the plus side nobody will ever call Bush a demagogue. .
When forgotten element of this campaign
Believe you meant "one forgotten element". Interesting typo. Fess up - you use voice-recognition software to dictate your blog posts, don't you?
Somehow, though (as in George Stephanopolous interview today), Obama does not impress with his grasp of issues in one-on-one interviews. Clinton does.
An Obama administration would represent a great age of oratory, but I suspect little else.
Note that because of youtube and the like that the ability to give good speeches is far more of a benefit to his campaign
"Somehow, though (as in George Stephanopolous interview today), Obama does not impress with his grasp of issues in one-on-one interviews. Clinton does."
And yet that and $1.50 has bought her a bag of chips in terms of results. Spending time on Wikipedia doesn't lead to good governing. On the biggest issue of the day she whiffed and has assembled a foreign policy campaign adviser team that still has trouble admitting that was a mistake. She has no real accomplishments to her name despite all of this grasp of the issues that has helped people's lives.
Excellent speech but "It's about the past versus the future" and "change the status quo" isn't much of a pivot.
And Obama needs to "pivot".... why exactly? Seems to me his message is working just fine.
Reality Man:
"She has no real accomplishments to her name despite all of this grasp of the issues that has helped people's lives."
What!? Hillary Clinton has been helping people since the Stone Age. It's true. How dare you suggest otherwise. She was calling for Pre-K education even before education existed!
I've been pointing out for weeks that Obama is a slcik-talking black guy. So he makes nice speeches. Most politicians - except Bush, of course - do, depending on how good they are at talking and how good their speechwriters are.
Who's Obama's speechwriter? Has Matt checked?
Thought so.
Any decent speechwriter given an agenda can whip up a great speech and make a politician sound good.
I analyzed one of Obama's policy speeches the other day here - one where he actually expressed policy, and not just flowery phrases. I tore it to pieces in terms of its actual practical implementation of policy.
I haven't bothered doing that to Clinton's foreign policy speeches because they aren't much different and we all know she's an AIPAC/Israel toady, so we know she isn't getting out of Iraq, and we know she's going to attack Iran and probably mire us in Pakistan as well.
The problem is - so will Obama, as I established the other day.
The real problem is - so will every candidate in either party who has a snowball's chance in hell of winning.
So who cares who wins? Within five years, the US will be mired in Iran and/or Pakistan. In fact, Iraq will probably be the only place we're NOT mired in - since the Iraqis by then will have kicked us out, probably violently.
Comments closed February 09, 2008.
| 
Heads in the Sand
Yeah, well Ronald Reagan was good at giving speeches too!
Posted by right | January 26, 2008 9:15 PM