A more perfect union - Barack Obama
As readers will know, I am an avid follower of American politics. I thought I would listen to the first couple of minutes of the increasingly famous "A more perfect union" speech. I listened to it all.
The cynics will talk of speech writers and rear-guard actions and damage limitation. I thought it was the finest political speech I have ever heard. I could not imagine this coming from Bush, or Brown and particularly not from Blair.
For me, Obama for President. Others who listen to the speech may feel the same. It was both sincere and inspirational and we need an inspirational American President. The problem though is that most people will not even start to listen. For them the endless selected inflammatory sound bites of Reverend Wright will be enough.
The polls are already swinging towards Hillary Clinton. Which makes McCain President. Nightmare.
The full text of the speech is here
Labels: A more perfect union, Barack Obama
31 Comments:
I managed to listen to about half of it . He doesn't seem to exude any passion in his voice IMHO which made it very difficult to listen too.
"For me, Obama for President. Others who listen to the speech may feel the same. It was both sincere and inspirational..."
Oh, Dr Crippen. And you a 'West Wing' fan too....
One would think you would have been inoculated against empty spin, :)
but Juliam
what you are saying means that a politician can never now make a passionate rousing speech.
are we becoming too cynical?
John
PS I could see Bartlett making some of that speech
Doc, he's not cynical, its just all Obama does.
For a Harvard educated constitutional scholar I wish he would talk more about the constitution! Thats not what I said, thats Ralph Nader's critique!
You never hear the man utter a word about public policy except in broad sweeping strokes. Great speech as per usual that lacks substance (a vice of most people running).
Also, the domestic economic stuff they all peddle is irrelevant. The POTUS really has no authority except that of the bully pulpit and the veto. Presidents cant make domestic change, but they can sure as hell stop it!
ps always had a weird crush on C.J. Craig.
Or even on C.J. Cregg!
God, what an anorak I am!
+++++++
But serious point.
Is it now possible to make a serious sincere political speech without being accused of spin
John
No.
I listened to it all and agree that it was fine speech which was designed to deal with the immediate problem that Obama's old friend and mentor had landed him in. He handled it brilliantly perhaps because he has the advantage of being able to say he is half black African (Kenyan) and half white American not an Afro-American whose ancestors were slaves of the whites.
But he was making a broader appeal to all blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians, etc, to say move on from the old civil rights battles and concentrate on the issues that matter to all people as they go about their daily lives.
If Hillary is now going up in the polls as a result of Rev. Wright's unhelpful comments it might say more about the way the Clintons have cynically manipulated poor and working class blacks in the Bible Belt over the years. They created a "client" vote among this set of electors without ever really solving the underlying influences that kept them poor. (Much like Brown and his ilk have tried to do here in the UK with the creation of a massive web of tax credits and hand-outs.)
At least Obama had the guts to say that everyone has to make the effort to improve their lot and not just complain about how their ancestors were treated 50 years ago.
Sorry, vacuous waffle laced with specious comparisons.
The problem is that political rhetoric is so overblown, it's impossible to take it at face value.
Of those left in the race, Obama is the least worst by a considerable margin.
Mad dog would lead us into WW3 without a 2nd thought. Just the other day, he was trying to pretend that Iran is training al Qaeda and that the Iraq war is going well.
A sincere, inspirational speech? Ronald Regan's 1984 address to Parliament about the the coming collapse of the Soviet Union.
McCain hasn't won yet. Hilary will still pull out a victory in November.
I think that this is an excellent speech. It is well crafted, it is well written but it is certainly not empty rhetoric. I think it's important to actually listen to this speech, really listen, with an open mind. Barack is intelligent, passionate and believes in what he is saying and as a result I believe in him. It's rare to be able to say this about a politician. We need to hear what this man has to say.
How about Thatcher 1990:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6580000/newsid_6589400/6589499.stm?bw=bb&mp=rm&news=1&bbcws=1
Adios, Miss Morose!
Oh come on folks - http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
Sorry, I had to move the comments back up to the post with the challenge. Blogger not functioning properly
JOhn
Dr C, perhaps I'm an old cynic but either Obama or Clinton will make McCain president.
People are less honest with pollsters than they are with the ballot box.
Good speech. And I don't particularly think that Obama believes much if any of Wright's BS. But that's part of his problem. Obama joined a black church to gain black street cred when he was running as a half-white guy in a black district. His "post racial" message that plays so well with much of the Democratic voters DOES NOT play well in inner-city Chicago. Now he's got to play that side down in order to run in the rest of the country -- i.e. he's an empty suit, lying to win votes like every other politician.
So yes, people can make stirring speeches but they are as bereft of meaning as listening to Kevin Branaugh give the monologue in Henry V. Exciting -- and then the lights come up.
If Hilary passport was looked up CNN and Msnbc,, would not cover it are care,but since its barack Obama there going to make a big Deal out of it to take the focus off Obama And Race
Al sharpton Jesse Jackson, There are done ,,, they have a double standard,,, when it come to whites and black,, there is racism in the United State, most of it is coming from the Black Americans,,,, How can Al Sharpton say, its ok for black to get imus fired,,, for the comments imus made, but Jeremiah Wright is ok thousands of excuses a double standard,, its time for Jesse and Al to get out of the lime light,,, Had respect for all sharpton,, until I seen him on Oreilly ,, Just like Obama,, I voted for Obama
in California,, but now when it comes time for the presidency He does not have my vote,, On CNN And Msnbc, I seen alot of barack Obama supporter out there saying
I Hilary is given the primary,,, with the super delegates,,, Obama supporter are going to Vote for McCain,,, there for OBama lost my Vote, in fact I will Vote for McCain,,
If OBama wins the primary,,, because
Barack Obama is a liar,,,
To all
Obama speech ,,,, Not sure if you caught Not only did Obama,,, Refuses to denounce him,, but even More,, He say in his own words,,,
Barack Obama was in church when Jeremiah Wright,, was spewing Anti-American, Racist ism ,,,, Those were his own words,,, barack was there
After going on keith Oberman ,Show obama said he would denounce that if he heard that language he would leave and not tolerate it , and denounce it
After he went on MSNBC,, he went on FOX CNN ABC< all the news station saying he was never there,,, in his church when he said these things,,
But Now today during his speech,,He states flat out Say's HE was there,,, Last week Barack Obama Lied,, went on all the news stations, and Lied,,
But your not reporting that,,,, You can rest assure,,, cnn ,,, Fox , ABC,,, Msnbc,, are getting more on this ,,, they will be reporting on this, and we will see
If you chose to report, Obama Lying on tv,,, If this was Hilary clinton lying and caught lying on all the new station,,, you can be sure,, you would talk about it every hour
people will be on your station debating this,,,, people analysing , if it is hilary clinton but it was not her it was Barack Obama, ,, it bad enought He lied, about being in church
With Jeremiah Write, when he said these anti american ,,,,,and still refuse to denounce him...all the news agency want to do is speak on how good his speech was,
Not that he lied,,, Last week on all the news agency ,, He was never there today in how own speech He say I was there,,,,should play all Obama videos from last week
stating he was not there,,, or heard any of the anti-american Jeremiah Write, said in his churc then play his speech today saying he was there and he did hear him in church and refuse to denounce Jeremiah Wright..
"Is it now possible to make a serious sincere political speech without being accused of spin..."
Yes, it is. Without a doubt.
But it's probably not a good idea to make this type of speech shortly after you've been discovered attending a church that spews race hatred for 20 years purely to gain a political advantage...
to Loki,
You are a moron, posting the same poorly written garbage on every blog.
Good post Dr Crippen.
Couldn't listen to it, but read the transcript, and it's the best political speech since Geoffrey Howe got rid of Thatcher ;-)
As it's been described Stateside as the best since MLK, and with passport details illegally accessed, if I were one of Barack's security guys, I'd be donning extra flak jackets.
Lots of people castigate Obama for making vacuous speeches. To me that's just being a canny politician - the fewer concrete promises you make on the campaign trail, the lesser the disappointment factor during tenure. And let's face it, no-one who's been through Harvard can be incapable of grasping the detail.
It's said that he chose his Church for political motives. If that's the case, given that he's had his kids baptised there, he'd lose my vote - I abhor using family for political ends, but somehow I think he's sincere.
But whilst the Democrat primaries are fascinating - the fight that matters is versus McCain. IMHO neither stand a chance, unless on a combined ticket, and even then it would be a close run thing, but with the amount of fur starting to fly, I can't see that happening.
Whoops, seem to have gone one a bit, like you am fascinated.
j
John, I agree with you, although tending to libertarianism and thus more a republican than a democrat, I think that Obama is that strange entity a sincere politician. If you have the time read his book "Audacity of Hope" it provides more background about him and his hopes and dreams.
POTUS has very little executive power, the States are themselves powerful over most domestic policy issues and the Federal Government is constrained by House & Senate. Calls for more detailed policy are overblown, POTUS is meant to be a leader of the people not just a policy wonk. That's one reason why the current Labour government is in such disarray having lost its leader and installed a policy wonk.
If I were a US citizen, Barack would get my vote. Hillary stands little chance against McCain since she will not gain any republican support and many democrats hate her guts. The Democrats are likely to rally around Obama, even those who want Hillary and I suspect that some republicans will also vote for him. I think he has a better chance than Hillary to win the race.
Never actually sat through an Obama speech before - many things for posting it here. If anyone *deserves* to be president, Obama does on the strength of that speech.
Until now, I've been thinking in terms of race/gender and frankly not liking the answer. But Obama shows he has his finger on precisely the point - everyone feels discriminated against in some way, whether they are or not; education in all but the very best neighbourhoods leaves a great deal to be desired; the legacy of slavery has interfered with the development of both black *and* white; only by working together can all of these problems be addressed for the next generations ... and it's not going to happen overnight.
Admirable. Is he like this all the time?
Fx
Shopped his own grandma in public. A disgrace. That's all I have to say.
As an aged Brit, this is probably the most intelligent speech I've heard from any US presidential candidate since JFK...
Whoever said it was lacking in passion, misses the point...a common error in this sound-byte society of ours...passion isn't just in the delivery, but in the content too, and by god does this man have substance...
In a scenario where the current incumbent has difficulty pronouncing his own name, where his natural successor is an Altzheimers candidate, and where the only other democratic opposition is a sex offenders spouse, (if not a landgrabbing criminal), this man brings dignity to the role.
If I was american I'd vote for him with an easier conscience than I've EVER voted for any British parliamentary candidate...
Look at them from Eden onwards...the (to me) totally unacceptable Thatcher is the only one who said what he/she actually meant...the only conviction politician...sad isn't it?
I'm a lifelong Liberal, but this guy seems to me quite sincere and if he was standing for a UK constituency, I'd vote for him regardless of party.
OH my god not a McCain presidency!!!...sarcasm off
I can see BDS will turn into MDS. If we in the states get half of what OBAMA or HIllary promise we will truly be hurting. We cannot afford either. Dream on about a dem as POTUS. They are sinking each other. Hillary's negative polling is high and Obama's lying and "typical white woman" comment have exposed him to the "middle".
In case you did not know it BDS is Bush Derangement Syndrome which is "typical " of dems and especially leftists wanting of increasing government intervention into our personal lives.
I think obama is gonna lose, the same as hillary, theyre gonna lose and McCain is gonaa kill´em. cheers
I'm with you.
I started reading the text of his speech, fully expecting to be underwhelmed and disappointed, full-armed with the sword of Cynicism and the shield of Snide Disbelief.
I walked away with tears in my eyes and an actual spark of hope for a brighter future for my country.
For the first time in a long, long time.
He's got my vote.
You made a good point, although some commentators seem to have missed the wood for the trees a bit.Your life is so wonderful,Reading your article is a kind of enjoyment.Thank you.
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