Barack Obama Speech at 2004 DNC Convention

[Kber]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWynt87PaJ0

Where it began for me. How about you?

[ecstatic]

1. I'd have to say the night he won Iowa... Up until that point,

I just viewed his campaign as a cute, yet symbolic effort. Iowa woke me up.

[TTUBatfan2008]

2. That's where it began for me too...

I honestly wondered why the hell he wasn't on the ticket or hell, at the top of the ticket.

[blm]

9. He didn't have the chops to lead a presidential ticket then - he grew INTO the chops in 2007-8.

Maybe you missed some of his faltering performances when he was interviewed on ISSUES in his first two years as senator. It took him well into 2007 before he got his stuttering and uhs under control, and I am an early supporter saying that.

Obama as a presidential contender would have faced what ANY NOMINEE was set up to face in 2003-4, the most prominent Dem voices like Bill Clinton, Joe Lieberman and Joe Biden publicly siding with Bush's decisions on terrorism and Iraq war over the nominee's criticisms of those decisions.

Here's shorthand version - 2008 political climate was in no way, shape or form similar to 2004 climate. If Obama ran then, the Dem powerstructure would have made sure he lost, too, and would have spent the next few years blaming him for the loss.


BTW - Kerry has uncovered and exposed more government corruption than any lawmaker in modern history - any citizen concerned about open government accountable to the people knew Kerry would have made the biggest difference in this country as president.

[TTUBatfan2008]

11. Hindsight is 20/20...

but in that moment, he impressed me a hell of a lot more than Kerry. And I know I'm not the only one who feels that way.

[blm]

12. But then, you probably never read the BCCI report...

The media put a stone wall up on BCCI matters for its fascist masters so many younger people would never hear much about it or its impact on everything happening today.

The strength of character to pursue and expose corruption of government impresses the hell out of me and Kerry did that, even at the expense of backlash from all of DC powerstructure including his own party and its leaders, and the media urged to tear him down.

Take Kerry's work out of the last 35 years and then visualize this nation in its second decade of full on fascism.

[karynnj]

13. He had a totally different task

He gave a keynote speech - an awesome keynote speech. It was incidentally compatible with beliefs that Kerry held and had spoken of for years. (That was why one similar line had to be edited out of Obama's speech. Kerry had a line speaking of red and blue states all saluting the red, white and blue; Obama's line was more poetic, but used the same obvious thought that red and blue are included in red, white and blue.)

But it is not reasonable to compare a keynote speech to an accptance speech. Kerry had to do far more in his speech. He gave a great acceptance speech that was as at least as good as Obama's 2008 acceptance speech - the speech that it can more reasonably be compared to.

The speech that could be compared more appropriately to Obama's keynote speech was Kerry's 2008 convention speech - that would have made a far better keynote speech than the lame Warner speech - although it might not have been the speech Kerry would hav written as a keynote speech.
The NYT called Kerry's 2008 speech the best non-acceptance speech that the author had seen in over two decades. That speech was a tour de force - in that it completely provided the way to frame McCain, something needed as McCain had been widely praised by Democrats and the media for decades and people needed a reason to change their mind. He also took back the issue of patriotism - making a strong claim that it was not just Republicans and that dissenting could be patriotic. You could make the claim - that had it been given the coverage - it did a better job than the 2004 keynote speech in making the case for voting for that year's Democrat.

As to the claim that Obama would have been better in 2008, I think you are wrong. The fact is that Kerry was far stronger on national security - the issue that determined that race - than Obama was. Even in 2008, it was Kerry who helped Obama on that issue by very carefully getting people to lower their opinion on McCain on that issue, while providing enormous support to Obama on it. This might have been important as it helped minimize the difference in how capable McCain and Obama were perceived on that issue. However, the BIG issue in 2008 was the economy falling apart. (Obama was very lucky that Iraq seemed most important in the primaries and the economy in the general election.)

It would be reasonable to wonder whether Kerry/Obama might have done better. I think Kerry/Durbin might have won - because I really think that what Kerry needed was someone as VP who was always out there intelligently batting away lies about Kerry and attacking in a rational, dignified way his opponent -Kerry did as a 2008 surrogate. As it was Kerry nearly won at a time when 59% of the likely voters answered that the country was doing either pretty well or fairly well in a gallop poll a week before the election. Given that Kerry was asking them to change in wartime when they were fearful, it is amazing that there was not a Bush landslide.

[TTUBatfan2008]

15. Holy crap...

You people are overanalyzing what I said. No need for a dissertation. Sheesh. I merely said he gave a hell of a speech and was far more appealing than Kerry at the time. It's an opinion. You guys are acting like I made some ultra controversial statement. Damn.

[karynnj]

17. The fact is that you did not make a controversial statement - I did

As to over analyzing, I was simply supporting my opinion - which is less accepted than your opinion so it needed support.

The fact of the matter is that both Kerry and Gore (initially) were treated very uniquely after their Presidential runs. Gore was treated absymally when he returned to the public eye a bit over a year after Bush was selected. In Kerry's case, he was cheered a few weeks after he lost when he went to the opening of the Clinton library. He was then trashed by many Democrats - likely to remove him as a possible rival to HRC.

The fact is that he took the high road and ran a very principled campaign showing great intelligence in the three debates. There were no scandals - and given the statistics quoted - he likely did better than could be reasonably expected - in fact, it was because he briefly in the spring and summer was slightly ahead - in spite of generic Democrat having been behind by double digits a few months earlier, that made people think there was a chance. Kerry has acted in the interest of the Democratic party and has worked hard in the Senate - really doing more than almost anyone in 2005 - 2008 in creating and pushing Democratic positions - yet, he is treated more often than not with derision. Kerry is a solid Democrat, brilliant, and an exceptionally good person and he deserves better.

To see how much ann anomaly this is, look at how the "losers" in 2008 were treated. McCain has already had several very positive articles speaking of how he will be a power in the Senate as bipartisanship becomes the norm. In addition, he is again spoken of as he was in 2000 - as if "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" and other nasty campaign things - and choosing Palen never happened. Bill Clinton really did say someone really over the line things in early 2008 - more so than HRC, but both acted in ways that were beneath them. The actions at the end of that campaign were not pretty. I know that saying this will immediately be met with - "The primaries are over". That IS the point that I am making - 6 months later - people are wiping out of their minds that they saw a darker side of the Clintons. (I actually think this is healthy - but until I am convinced that the Clintons and their allies drop their enemies list - I will continue not to trust them.)

[Kber]

3. The hope of a skinny kid with big ears and a funny name

who believes that America has a place for him too.

Yes we did!

[JimGinPA]

4. Likewise - We Had Some Friends Over The Night He Gave That Speech...

We had the TV turned on to the convention but we were all talking until he started speaking. It's kind of funny remembering how we all got quiet and started listening at the same time.

[Born_A_Truman]

5. Yes, that's the first time I ever saw Barack

I was alone in the living room and ended up standing and clapping at the end of his speech.

[Kber]

6. I hit the Tivo record about half way through

and made my husband watch it from the beginning.

He's not a political geek like me, but he decided pretty much right there that Obama would probably be our next democratic president.

[TTUBatfan2008]

7. My dad and I were watching it together...

and we both thought the same thing. We were looking at each other after the speech in that "I know you're thinking the same thing I am" kind of way. So of course I asked him, "You thinking what I am? This guy is gonna be President some day." He goes, "Damn straight."

[lojasmo]

8. I said to my wife:

"This man will be the next democratic president."

[loyalsister]

10. Absolutely

I had taped it and when I watched it, I knew. I just didn't expect it would be this soon.
There were a few people who I shared that thought with who haven't forgotten.
It's fun.

[karynnj]

14. Kerry himself has said the same - that was why he selected him for the speech

(though as he said at a NA election the day before the 2008 election - he thought he would get 8 years first.)

[skeewee08]

16. Luv it!