Counterpoint: Day 3
Well it happened. After hearing the most awfully repeated phrase tonight, I vomited. But as I was cleaning it up, I heard some amazing things. Tonight the Democratic party found their voice, their message congealed, and rationality made a comeback.
Perhaps this is due to the verbal prowess of some of the speakers, from John Kerry to Bill Clinton. And Joe Biden made absolutely clear that he would not only stand beside Barack Obama as his vice presidential candidate, but that he would stand in front of him and plow through challengers, throwing his decades of experience and hard work behind his attacks. Even Obama himself stopped in, putting an exclamation mark on the evening.
Even more impressive was the fact that each speaker tonight, with foreign policy as the central issue, courted independents. Clinton, Kerry, and Biden each laid out a rational case against McCain’s foreign policy judgment, and showed in their best estimations why Obama would make a better commander in chief. Lo and behold, the appeal to reason worked. No more mindless screaming — well, less of it, at least. But there was meat to the arguments now.
Bill Clinton’s speech, after a several minute standing ovation, made Democrats nostalgic for the feeling of having one of their own in the White House. Not only that, but the competence that seemed to ooze from the podium helped to instill confidence in the party’s message in the wary independents.
Joe Biden did several helpful things in his speech tonight. As Paul Begala said, he was the “ham and cheese” of the Democratic party, in that he was able to bring his talking points down to the level of the average everyday American, and show that he could empathize with them. He also touted, to some pundits and analysts’ dismay, his foreign policy credentials, challenging John McCain on his record. The third thing Biden did was say the things that Obama can’t or won’t say. Biden can get his hands dirty, whereas Obama has a pristine image to maintain in the eyes of the American people. Biden showed that he was not afraid to go on the offensive.
Today, Barack Obama was officially nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate (watch the clip again carefully and you’ll see Chuck Schumer smile and wave his hand like a little kid). Tomorrow, he will give his speech before tens of thousands people. The culmination of the convention tomorrow night, however, has been hyped so much, that Obama will need the speech of his life to continue positive momentum into the final two month stretch.
