Pamella Cash-Roper and Barney Smith sounded better than the politicians who spoke tonight. Hell, maybe they’d do their jobs better, too. Is a hyphenated word one or two words? Why didn’t I bold that “and”? Oh the humanity. And are there any other liberal salt of the earth songs besides “Born In the USA”? That seems to be the safe choice… every time. Just sayin’.
Ok, Dick Durbin was good. Wasn’t expecting to say that.
That is a slick tie, Obie.
Well, maybe Obama doesn’t need anyone else to fight his battles for him. I like Mavericks, and I liked Maverick the movie, but after tonight, I think I’m gonna vote for Obama. In all seriousness, I thought it was a decent speech overall — though I had my problems with it — but I was ecstatic that he went after McCain so hard. That is what conventions are for. Send out a memo next time. With a lot of crap in the middle, the DNC started well and ended well, and as long as Sasha and Malia continue to act as surrogates over the next two months, they should have a new home come January.
August 28th, 2008
Between packing, I’ve been writing the mother of all posts on my disappointment with some aspects of the Democratic Convention. To my surprise, looking around the blogs, I found that many have written the same things. Glenn Greenwald perhaps says it best. So I’ve rewritten my masterwork to make it more specific and less what everyone else has beaten me to the punch on. Unfortunately, it is no longer a masterwork.
There are a lot specific goals for a convention, but the two big ones are building up your candidate and tearing down your opponent. Bush’s disaterous presidency — and McCain’s support of it — has provided myriad talking points for Democrats on why we don’t want the other guy.
In 2004, Republicans told us John Kerry wouldn’t keep us safe as Commander-In-Chief. This time around, Barack has shown great foreign policy judgment by opposing the war in Iraq from the start, confidently explaining the need for diplomacy, recognizing the real threats to America in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and looking badass in his overseas trip. John McCain needs Joe Lieberman to help him keep Sunnis and Shiites straight, and makes dangerously bold threats to countries like Iran and Russia. The troops get it, they mobbed Obama when he went to Iraq (which thankfully, Jack Reed did mention), and veterans are donating to him over McCain at a 6-1 clip. But more than one speaker should point this out!
Are Democrats worried that Clinton women feel left out by their party? Well, many prominent women had a chance to speak, and every one of them should have mentioned that John McCain voted against the Violence Against Women Act. And Joe Biden wrote it. They should have reminded us that McCain voted against equal pay for women. And Barack Obama married Michelle. This isn’t close.
And do I even need to go into the economy? Why aren’t Democrats hammering these points? One reason might be that they left a lot of their heavy hitters at home. Russ Feingold, Al Franken and Barbara Boxer should have had their very own night and very own theme called “The Gloves are Off”. Kerry, Gore and Schweitzer were the only ones who really laid into the Republicans (with Kerry and Schweitzer achieving much better results). And us young kids have been some of Obama’s most important and viscerally engaged supporters. Beau Biden was excellent. Better than his dad. Why aren’t more young Democrats like that speaking?
To be sure, there were some good individual speeches. Most of Monday was great. Michelle has yet to be topped. Deval Patrick made me glad to think he could be our next Attorney General. The Clintons backed Obama, and Kerry was good, too (although no one saw him). But there are some very specific things about Obama which make him an exciting choice for president, and there are some excellent reasons not to vote for McCain. Those messages needed to be woven into some cohesive themes that more than one person addresses. And that didn’t happen nearly to the extent it should have. It’s up to Obama, now.
August 28th, 2008