Yesterday I was one of 12,000 people who packed into the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI to hear Barak Obama speak. The energy peaked to a fevered pitch as people waited for him to speak at a state he had yet to rally. We were particularly stoked when he said he “brought a little something extra” to make up for failing to campaign as of yet in Michigan. Low and behold out steps John Edward for a long awaited endorsement (and a possible Democratic ticket?). Needless to say it was a pretty cool event to attend, even though my mind isn’t entirely made-up.
The speech was pretty typical. It focused on core, predictable Democratic party platform pieces, speckled with moving personal narratives to make his points. Like always (which is typical of most political speeches at this juncture) it was long on rhetoric and promises, but short on specifics. There were also a few eye-rolls, like when he talked about how the country needs to not move jobs over seas and concentrate on rebuilding the manufacturing sector (OK, so we erase NAFTA? How does the government create jobs exactly, even though it IS the countries largest employer…) and talked about funding universal healthcare (which I partly think is needed) and a $4000 education credit for college students (from where exactly is this money going to come?). Over all, though, it was a great, hope-filled speech that reminded me of JFK, Reagan, or Martin Luther King Jr.
Many have criticized him for being nothing more than a rhetorician, since he provides little details for his policies and proposed changes. While I can understand the concern, I’m certain once he and McCain start battling it out come this Fall (sorry, it’s over for Hillary!) those details will begin to emerge. But even then, is it really a bad thing that most of his speeches are more rhetorical and less wonky?
I think this country needs a brilliant visionary who can paint the picture of who we are and who we want to be. We’re teetering on the verge of a recession, people are loosing jobs and homes and pensions they were banking on for the rest of their lives, and the country is involved in a pseudo-war (terrorism), which the government takes as as license for some ‘interesting’ practices (water-boarding, wiretapping, etc…) and a real conflict (is Iraq really a war?) that WAS launched under false pretenses (I was literally in the Captiol Building in the Jan. 2003 SOTU when he broke out the ‘yellow-cake’ evidence and coned the country into believing Iraq posed an immanent threat!) and convenience (this was not about liberation but to show the other two members of the ‘Axis of Evil’ [N. Korea and Iran] the USA means business!)
I’d say we’re due for a little rhetoric and hopeful, dreamy ideals (or at least someone who can construct sentences well and speak coherently!).
And this is why, for right now, I’ve got Obama fever…
