After last night, Karen and I are officially going all in. I’m usually not one for politics but I have to say that the content and delivery of Obama’s victory speech was as good as any I’ve seen in my lifetime. Granted, it is only Iowa at this point and there’s a long way to go but its a huge first step that hopefully will carry on through the month of January and beyond.
The somewhat sad thing is that as exciting as the prospect of him actually winning the election felt, it was metered by an instinctual preparation for disappointment – presumably conditioning from the past 2 elections. It also didn’t help to constantly be reminded of Mike Huckabee’s slaying in Iowa and couldn’t help but think of the scene towards the end of Jesus Camp (great, if not scary, movie) where they talk about how they feel that the evangelicals could carry any election in this country (see the clip here about 1:00 in). Granted, Iowa was a huge base for that demographic so it remains to be seen whether or not that carries over as this process gets rolling.
Another disappointing thing is to see his detractors in the media use ridiculous angles to try and pick Obama apart on the air – i.e. William Bennett being the only one referring to him as Barack Hussein Obama throughout CNN’s broadcast last night in a not so thinly-veiled attempt to continue play to people’s fears, etc. It encapsulates how so many people are so off the mark as to why you would elect someone to lead your country that it makes me want to throttle someone.
Anyway, if you missed it last night, check it out below and tell me you don’t get a few “O Captain, My Captain” chills… (if its not loading, you can go here to check it out)
Update: Also, check out Steven Johnson’s take from before yesterday, and his follow-up this morning that really highlights what made the speech so good.
