Some of the old hands were unimpressed
Safire the Republican was less than moved by the Obama acceptance speech:
By choosing the venue of a vast outdoor stadium as John Kennedy did for his “new frontier” acceptance, and by speaking on the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” address, Barack Obama — whose claim to fame is an ability to move audiences with his words — deliberately invited comparison with two of the most memorable speeches of our recent history. What a mistake…
Obama’s handlers offered the political version of “American Idol” — the audacity of hype. On the 50-yard line of the football field, at a reported cost of $6 million, they erected a plywood Parthenon, its fake Grecian columns suggesting the White House. At the end, not a traditional balloon drop in a contained hall — enjoyable hoopla — but a fireworks display in the heavens over a mass of humanity in a blizzard of confetti, all too like the collectivist fantasy that opened and closed the Beijing Olympics.
To present what? In a speech aptly titled “The American Promise,” Obama promised to “end this war in Iraq responsibly,” even as it is already ending responsibly. He promised in a militant phrase not merely to end but to “finish the fight” (meaning to win) in Afghanistan. In one catchall sentence, Obama promised to defeat “terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease.” Because the charge that he would raise taxes obviously nettles him, he promised to “eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses” run by obedient high-tech executives, and to “cut taxes for 95 percent of all working families.”
Unmoved too was Broder the Democrat:
There was no theme music to the speech and really no phrase or sentence that is likely to linger in the memory of any listener. The thing I never expected did in fact occur: Al Gore, the famously wooden former vice president, gave a more lively and convincing speech than Obama did.
If this were just an off night by a speaker we know can soar, it would be no more than a blip on the screen. Obama picked a bad night to be ordinary, given the huge crowd that filled the Denver Broncos stadium and the elaborate Grecian setting constructed for his performance. But John McCain is hardly a major threat as a speaker, so what’s the difference?
Here’s why I think it matters. One of the major questions about Obama, of whom so little is known, is whether he is really serious about challenging the partisan gridlock in Washington or whether his election would simply bring on the regular wish list of liberal policies.
Messrs. Safire and Broder were unimpressed. But how is it possible to be unimpressed with over-the-top statements like this one from Senator Obama’s acceptance speech:
for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as president: In 10 years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.
All politicians bloviate, but promising to end America’s dangerous 70% dependence on oil imports in a decade is in a category of its own. (That statement of Senator Obama is as ridiculous as that bit about tire pressure.) Moreover, it recalls President Kennedy’s promise to land a man on the moon on a similar timetable. The difference is that JFK actually meant what he said. Whether such things matter anymore remains to be seen.