I'm kicking myself that I missed Barack Obama's speech last night; the transcript is here. When and if (and I think it is when) he runs for president, he has my vote. Perhaps with Gavin Newsom as his veep... I can dream, can't I?
Really, I'll love him forever for this already-famous segment:
The pundits, the pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue States: red states for Republicans, blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states.
We coach little league in the blue states and, yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states.
There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq, and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq.
Take that, all you pundits who seem so certain God has no place in the Democratic Party! (The bold emphasis is mine.) Unless some really ugly skeleton pops out of his closet, in the next senator from Illinois, a political star has surely been born. And all God's people said, "amen."
Enough for today.
I had those exact same thoughts this morning, but somehow YOU writing them sounded so much better. :)
Posted by: JM | July 28, 2004 at 04:26 PM
I just wish that he could have run with John Edwards as a VP. As it is, I wouldn't mind seeing an Edwards - Obama ticket if it meant we'd have an Obama presidency someday.
Posted by: Brandon | July 28, 2004 at 04:32 PM
...the same "star is born" mantra was pushed in 2000, when Gore had Congressman Ford speak at the LA Convention...Four years later, he's still JUST a congressman.
Obama may have a future, but it likely will be because of more than this speech...
Posted by: Flying Monkey | July 28, 2004 at 05:48 PM
Harold Ford Jr. is hardly an inspiring speaker. About all he and Obama have in common are their affiliations and, to some degree, their ethnic heritage. I've heard Ford speak, and he's a snooze. Obama is borderline electrifying.
We desperately need a strong black man to take over from Sharpton and Jesse as "best known black politician."
Posted by: Hugo | July 28, 2004 at 05:51 PM
The speech is fantastic, but the man has presence, too. The video is here:
http://www.c-span.org/Search/basic.asp?ResultStart=1&ResultCount=10&BasicQueryText=obama
Posted by: James | July 29, 2004 at 05:14 AM
One speech does not a President make, but we are right to be very thankful for that speech and for having a guy who can believe it and present it that way. Not to mention, of course, that he's unopposed for the Senate seat!! My (85-year-old) Dad called the other day, apparently for the primary purpose of encouraging me with "If a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, he should expect surprises." Well, may Obama have more good surprises.
Posted by: Larry Harvey | July 29, 2004 at 12:20 PM
Other guys whose political careers were "made" by great convention speeches are: Hubert Humphrey, Ronald Reagan, Jesse Jackson, Mario Cuomo, J.C. Watts. You can see it's a mixed bag of success.
Posted by: annika | July 30, 2004 at 09:11 AM
True, Annika. And Clinton's speech at the 1988 convention was famously disastrous -- and look what happened to him! I note, however, that both Cuomo and Watts (for different reasons) chose never to seek the presidency -- one wonders if the former could have won in 1992 if he had done so.
Posted by: Hugo | July 30, 2004 at 09:23 AM
i believe Cuomo could have won big. His speech was the most stirring defense of the Democratic world view i've ever heard. And the country was ready for him. Wasn't it an old Phil Hartman skit that poked fun at why he decided not to run? "I... have... mob... ties!"
Posted by: annika | July 30, 2004 at 11:48 AM
Just to gloat a bit:
I live in Illinois, voted for Obama in the primaries, and am excited as heck and doing what I can so that he can become my next US senator :)
Posted by: Dwight | July 31, 2004 at 10:13 PM