The Right Speech at the Right Time

At first I wasn't sure what I thought about Barack Obama's acceptance speech last night. But as I've considered it more, I've decided that I think it was exactly the right speech to give.

While I've seen tons of Obama speeches, for many people this was going to be the first real introduction to him. This is where they would get to see the candidate himself rather than read what other people say about him. I think that he seized that opportunity as best as was possible.

True, there were no "Yes We Can!" moments or "Fire it up! Ready to go!" chants, but that wasn't really what this speech was about. The crowd was already fired up and ready to go and the yes we can chants started right when he walked on stage. So all that stagecraft stuff was taken care of. This was Obama's chance to draw the line in the sand and define what this election was going to be about.

He talked about the promise of America and what it means to be American. He did his usual spiel about being united for change. All of this I've come to expect from Obama's speeches and he didn't fail to deliver.

What Obama also did in his speech is take on John McCain as directly as I've ever heard him. Obama spelled out what his vision for the next four years looks like and what his plans are for getting us there. Someone coming to the speech last night only knowing what they'd read about - that Obama was a foreign-seeming elitist who gives light airy speeches light on substance - was going to get a surprise. Clearly, this man is ready to be president.

Of course, it didn't hurt also that I agreed with pretty much everything in the speech. I don't know that our country is in as dire of shape as some of the convention speakers indicated it was. But we aren't in great shape either. After 8 years of George W. Bush, I'm ready for change. Last night, as much as any other night of this campaign, showed me that Barack Obama is the one to give that change. I'm fired up and ready to go.

Yes we can.

Thoughts on the Democratic Convention

First of all, how awesome was John Kerry last night. I know that I may be about the first person ever to use the words "awesome" and "John Kerry" in the same sentence and really mean it, but his speech last night was just fantastic. He especially must have loved giving that speech and getting to go after John McCain for switching positions on so many issues. The sweet irony of it all. I only caught the end of Bill Clinton's speech, but from where I was sitting, John Kerry was the highlight of the night. Too bad it wasn't his convention this time around.

I thought Biden did a good solid job, but didn't turn in anything especially memorable or wonderful. I woke up this morning with some of the phrases from John Kerry's speech still in my head. I don't really remember anything that Biden said. Now, as I've written before, Biden doesn't have to be a charismatic master orator. The ticket already has that slot covered. So maybe it's not a bad thing that Biden didn't do much in the way of getting people all fired up.

Nancy Pelosi kind of scares me. I'm sure she's much better in one on one interactions, but watching her up at the podium last night was just awkward.

Now that Obama is officially the nominee, we'll see what happens to the PUMAs. I really hope that they do the right thing on this one.

Looking forward to Obama's speech tonight. I'll have more thoughts tomorrow.