Review: The Democratic Convention (Night 1)
August 25th, 2008 by Matt IngogliaWhat a night! I have to say that overall I was pleased with the festivities last night. Given that the theme yesterday was “One Nation”, I thought the speakers and event planners did a pretty good job relating the life of Barack Obama. A lot of commentators (particularly on CNN) seemed upset that there wasn’t a ton of McCain-bashing in the speeches, but they’re forgetting that there wasn’t supposed to be. Instead, the objective last night was to make everyone out there realize that the Obama story is remarkable and unremarkable at the same time; tons of Americans have beaten the odds and succeeded despite adversity, but Obama’s race adds a whole new dimension to things and makes his rise a story truly worth telling.
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. had a nice parallel to the Civil Rights movement in his speech. From his metaphor-crafting ability to his commanding oratory, I think it’s safe to say he’s a lot better at speeches than his father. His remarks set the stage for Ted Kennedy by reminding Americans of the historic opportunity we have not only to fulfill the dreams of Dr. King, but to close the book on 8 years of mismanaged endeavors and international blunders.
Personally, I thought Caroline and Ted Kennedy brought down the house. You could tell the moment was totally unscripted (the signs said simply “KENNEDY” just incase Ted couldn’t show and only Caroline spoke). Ted’s trip out to Denver was remarkable enough, but his speech extolling the ambitions of Americans and entreating them to do the impossible one last time will resonate with older Americans who remember JFK’s calls to service. We’ll be watching that speech years from now, trust me.
Michelle Obama gave what I thought to be as good a speech as she could. Aside from some delivery issues (which I think worked to her advantage by inadvertently showing her human side), her lines earned lots of applause and helped prep the room for the major-league unity that we’ll be getting Tuesday night. The “people like Hillary Clinton” and “people like Joe Biden” lines, while a tad cliché, resonated with people in ways that even Barack probably couldn’t have done. So ultimately, I’d say she did a very good job as well.
With the emotional and historical aspects of the convention out of the way, get ready for everybody to sharpen the attacks and send the cannonballs flying at McCain tonight. Expect a pointed speech from Hillary Clinton, who will probably attack McCain as hard as her insane PUMA supporters.
Tags: Conventions
August 26th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Well, I watched the first night and its was OK. The speeches were good and Michelle Obama did a great job. She hit all the right notes to show that she’s not an “angry black woman.” And, that was what she had to do. I do think, however, that the staging is terrible. The speakers look like game show contestants. Not at all what I would expect from a major party. Watch the republicans, in the past they have been much better at staging then us. And, for the party that eschews Hollywood values, they should be the ones with the more austere sets. In any case, lets see what happens tonight. I expect Hillary will bring the house down and surprise everyone with her ringing and genuine endorsement of Obama. So much so, that her army of “robotic yentas” as some call them, will lead the Obama snake dance at the end of the convention.
August 26th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
I thought Michelle’s speech was excellent.