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Wednesday, August 27, 2008
True colors, shining through….
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So Steven Spielberg, perhaps America’s pre-eminent filmmaker, the producer and director of “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan” and producer of the excellent HBO series “Band of Brothers,” puts together a very moving tribute to U.S. troops overseas for the Democratic Convention, and Fox News refuses to show it.
I guess that demonstrates where their loyalties are.
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“And in conclusion — but before I do that, let me…”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tonight’s schedule includes speeches by Joe Biden and Bill Clinton, two of the more — how shall I put this? — “generous” talkers of their time.
Any bets on who holds the stage the longest?
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‘We must close the bumper-sticker gap!’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For the moment, there’s a lot of talk over a supposed split in the Democratic Party. But in the wake of Hillary Clinton’s speech, I have seen no Obama people complaining on or off the record about her performance; the only people who profess to believe that Clinton held back in her endorsement are Republicans, and the speech wasn’t targeted at them anyway.
Besides, I suspect that John McCain may have a bigger problem than Obama with his party’s base. That lack of enthusiasm for McCain shows up in obvious ways, such as fundraising, and in more subtle ways as well.
For example, I realized the other day that I see a lot of Obama bumper stickers and almost no McCain stickers. Now, given the part of town I live in, that’s not surprising.
But I’ve asked conservative friends who live in more conservative parts of metro Atlanta, such as Cobb and Cherokee counties, whether they have seen McCain bumper stickers. And they both say no, they don’t. Very few if any, they report. Not many yard signs either.
Bumper stickers don’t decide elections. But I think they do accurately reflect the amount of enthusiasm generated by each candidate among his base, and that enthusiasm in turn helps drive voter turnout in November. The person with a bumper sticker on his car is more likely to vote, and more likely to encourage others to vote.
So I’d be curious — anybody out there seeing McCain bumper stickers?
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Convention impressions, Night Two
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Barack Obama began his career fighting for workers displaced by the global economy. He built his campaign on a fundamental belief that change in this country must start from the ground up, not the top down. He knows government must be about ‘We the people’ not ‘We the favored few.’
And when Barack Obama is in the White House, he’ll revitalize our economy, defend the working people of America, and meet the global challenges of our time. Democrats know how to do this. As I recall, President Clinton and the Democrats did it before. And President Obama and the Democrats will do it again.
He’ll transform our energy agenda by creating millions of green jobs and building a new, clean energy future. He’ll make sure that middle class families get the tax relief they deserve. And I can’t wait to watch Barack Obama sign a health care plan into law that covers every single American.
Barack Obama will end the war in Iraq responsibly and bring our troops home - a first step to repairing our alliances around the world. — Hillary Clinton, Aug. 26, 2008
It seemed to me Hillary did exactly what she needed to do last night, and did it very well. As I noted below, I think it was the best speech I’ve ever seen her give. The passion seemed real, and there was no sign of the defensiveness and stilted delivery that in the past have handicapped her as a speaker.
I did have to chuckle at those boys on Fox though. Fred Barnes insisted the Obama camp was going to be very upset at the Hillary people. Bill Kristol claimed the endorsement was “shockingly minimal.” Pretty damn funny, those guys. They live in an alternative universe. Of course, in that universe Saddam also had tons of WMD, we would be greeted as liberators and the Iraqis would finance their own reconstruction.
I also think Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer did a good job as well, although at times in his speech it did seem like he was channeling Rodney Dangerfield with his body language. He would have been fun to watch even with the sound off.
