ROCK STAR CELEBRITY

ROCK STAR CELEBRITY, August 29, 2008
Last night, Senator Barack Obama delivered his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. In a speech that lasted about 45 minutes, Obama attempted to prove that he is ready to be President. It was a good speech, but I think that it missed a few critical points.
Senator Obama started off his speech with a little personal background. He spoke of being raised by a single mom and his grandparents. He talked of the attributes that his grandmother instilled in him which has driven him in his life. He then went on the attack against Senator John McCain. According to MSNBC, 19 different attacks were provided. The final part of the speech, which I thought was by far the best portion of the speech, was similar to the old Reagan speeches of a shining city on a hill. He talked of the greatest that America is, and how we need to get back to that ideal. This was a speech that very few people in the world could ever give. It was before about 85,000 people at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver, where the Broncos play. The weather was perfect, and the celebrities including Oprah, Will I Am, Sheryl Crow, Matthew Modine was all there. The stage was developed by the same production company that designed the set for the last Brittany Spears concert tour. It was an event that was staged incredibly.
There were two lines in the speech that stood out for me. The first line from Senator Obama was, “If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that’s a debate I’m ready to have.” This line is interesting because less than two months ago, Senator McCain suggested to Senator Obama that they have a town hall debates across the country that would give the American public the opportunity to see both candidates together and allow them to ask questions. Obviously, Senator Obama declined this offer. Now two months later, with his poll numbers dropping, Senator Obama offers up almost the same request. Strange…
The second line that stood out to me was, “Because if you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.” One thing that stood out during the Democratic convention was that there was no one who said that they had know Senator Obama for years and this is what he believes in. There was no one from the Senate or the Illinois State House that came forward and said this is who he is and what he believes in. What does this mean, it means that very few people know the Senator and the Senator has a very light resume. Senator Obama’s lack of experience is one of his greatest challenges during this campaign. One of the reasons he picked Senator Joe Biden as his Vice President was hi slack of foreign policy experience. The Obama pick was meant to shore up one of his biggest weaknesses.
This morning has also brought the McCain campaign’s pick for Vice President, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. The mother of five children, including a new born recently diagnosed with Down Syndrome and another one who last year signed up for the Army, brings a youthful, female candidate to the ticket. It will be interesting to see how the Democrats try to define her. If they state that she is inexperienced, they then will have to deal with the same issue themselves. She does have executive experience, she is from outside Washington, and she is the only women. It should be a very interesting campaign over the past few months.