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Thoughts on the RNC
Sep. 5th, 2008 10:47 amI was actually surprised at how bad the RNC was. Though I'm an Obama supporter I've voted on both sides of the aisle (including McCain in the 2000 primaries). So, I paid roughly equal attention to both. I half-watched the speeches on the first three nights and watched both the Preisdential nominee's speeches in their entirety.
In the nights preceding Obama's speech, the speakers I saw took specific policies and outlined, often with dates and numbers, situations in which even President Bush was convinced to change his mind after Obama had a particular stance on an issue while McCain stayed firm in his stance.
Then Obama gave a speech that was gracious but firm, specific and detailed but not boring or implausible, and hopeful but rooted in stressing the responsibility that both he and all of us have.
The RNC's speakers spoke in vague slogans damning Obama and the Democrats for the same things they've been damning them for decades. Though it wasn't a debate per se, they demonstrated poor debating skills by not citing specifics throughout. Just as a fan of arguing things to find the truth of a particular thing I was disappointed that there wasn't really anything that could be argued. There was nothing to defend or deny.
There seemed to be more deceptive and vague half-truths too, like the whole "Obama will raise your taxes" thing. Well, yes he will, but according to his plan it's for only the top 5% of wage earners. It's actually a tax cut for everyone else. And of course there was that insult to community organizers.
Then was McCain's speech. First he approached a podium that had kind of a late 60s/early 70s vibe to it (It was kind of cool looking actually). Then he had a huge video background of what looked like some federal building or something. Apparently it was a middle school. But when viewed in close-up, all you could see behind him was green! Eventually it switched to a flagpole against a blue sky, but didn't he learn his lesson after Colbert schooled him for his reaction on Obama's nomination months ago? I mean he's hip enough to be like the most frequent guest on The Daily Show, you'd think he'd know not to use flat color backgrounds so that Colbert could issue another challenge! McCain's campaign is simply one bizarrely bad decision after another. It's actually kind of sad. I think it's because he's become captive of his party through a gradual process over the past eight years.
The speech itself started off pretty gracious to Obama and his supporters; he paid the same respect to his opponent that Obama did the previous Thursday. To his credit, he was the only one to do so all week, though at the DNC McCain was lauded throughout the week.
Several times during the speech he had to pause to wait for the chants of "USA!" to stop. To be fair Obama would have to wait for similar reasons when chants of "Yes we can!" echoed through his stadium, but the way McCain carried himself in these moments demonstrated his lack of comfort. There was one point where there was someone who invaded the room and took off her shirt revealing a pink tank top. I believe this was some kind of protester, but I'm not sure. He didn't seem quite in control of his crowd, but managed to toss off a plea to ignore the "static."
I kept waiting for the specifics that had been severely lacking througout the rest of the RNC, but they never really came. I'm flipping through the transcript to see if I missed something, but I haven't.
It's ironic because Obama's been criticized all year for lofty words and a lack of specifics until the convention. Then last week's convention had enough speeches filled with solid arguments for Obama and against McCain that it seemed like a debate four weeks early. They were also delivered solidly, with confidence on all parts.
But if you'd like to take a look at the words of the speech (I haven't found the speech in its entirety online, you'll have to settle for ten-minute chunks on YouTube)...
( Since I posted the Obama speech, here too is the McCain speech. )To reread Barack Obama's speech, click here.In the nights preceding Obama's speech, the speakers I saw took specific policies and outlined, often with dates and numbers, situations in which even President Bush was convinced to change his mind after Obama had a particular stance on an issue while McCain stayed firm in his stance.
Then Obama gave a speech that was gracious but firm, specific and detailed but not boring or implausible, and hopeful but rooted in stressing the responsibility that both he and all of us have.
The RNC's speakers spoke in vague slogans damning Obama and the Democrats for the same things they've been damning them for decades. Though it wasn't a debate per se, they demonstrated poor debating skills by not citing specifics throughout. Just as a fan of arguing things to find the truth of a particular thing I was disappointed that there wasn't really anything that could be argued. There was nothing to defend or deny.
There seemed to be more deceptive and vague half-truths too, like the whole "Obama will raise your taxes" thing. Well, yes he will, but according to his plan it's for only the top 5% of wage earners. It's actually a tax cut for everyone else. And of course there was that insult to community organizers.
Then was McCain's speech. First he approached a podium that had kind of a late 60s/early 70s vibe to it (It was kind of cool looking actually). Then he had a huge video background of what looked like some federal building or something. Apparently it was a middle school. But when viewed in close-up, all you could see behind him was green! Eventually it switched to a flagpole against a blue sky, but didn't he learn his lesson after Colbert schooled him for his reaction on Obama's nomination months ago? I mean he's hip enough to be like the most frequent guest on The Daily Show, you'd think he'd know not to use flat color backgrounds so that Colbert could issue another challenge! McCain's campaign is simply one bizarrely bad decision after another. It's actually kind of sad. I think it's because he's become captive of his party through a gradual process over the past eight years.
The speech itself started off pretty gracious to Obama and his supporters; he paid the same respect to his opponent that Obama did the previous Thursday. To his credit, he was the only one to do so all week, though at the DNC McCain was lauded throughout the week.
Several times during the speech he had to pause to wait for the chants of "USA!" to stop. To be fair Obama would have to wait for similar reasons when chants of "Yes we can!" echoed through his stadium, but the way McCain carried himself in these moments demonstrated his lack of comfort. There was one point where there was someone who invaded the room and took off her shirt revealing a pink tank top. I believe this was some kind of protester, but I'm not sure. He didn't seem quite in control of his crowd, but managed to toss off a plea to ignore the "static."
I kept waiting for the specifics that had been severely lacking througout the rest of the RNC, but they never really came. I'm flipping through the transcript to see if I missed something, but I haven't.
It's ironic because Obama's been criticized all year for lofty words and a lack of specifics until the convention. Then last week's convention had enough speeches filled with solid arguments for Obama and against McCain that it seemed like a debate four weeks early. They were also delivered solidly, with confidence on all parts.
But if you'd like to take a look at the words of the speech (I haven't found the speech in its entirety online, you'll have to settle for ten-minute chunks on YouTube)...
