Convention Cheat Sheet

By Chris Baily

With Obama’s speech coming up tonight (btw 10 & 11 EST) I thought I’d put together a few of the more important speeches.

Also, some of the Popten guys and gals are going to be at the Tank tonight to watch the big speech. They’ve got beer and lots of young democrats running around. The Tank is at 87 Lafayette Street (Canal St. NRW6 Subway stop) Festivities kick off around 7 or 8…

This is for anyone who missed the convention coverage over the last three days, or for anyone who wants to watch ‘em again – My personal top ten list for speeches so far. And they’re in ascending order, cause, hey, if you don’t want to watch all of them (I wouldn’t necessarily blame you) you should at least take a look at the best ones first…

1.  Bill Clinton – Apologies to Hillary and Joe – but Billy’s was – for me – the most effective speech of the entire convention so far. Hillary set it up, and Biden took the baton afterward, but Bill, more than anyone else, slammed the door on all this talk about a Clinton-Obama rift. It’s not necessarily the best on pure oratory skill, but it’s hard to find anyone better than Bill Clinton when you need to make a point.
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2-10 after the jump…

2.  Hillary Clinton – First runner up and winner of best political theatrics award. This was the most anticipated speech of the week, (at least until Barack’s tonight) and it didn’t disappoint. My only problem: Tuesday night, I was really psyched about her speech, but when I woke up the next morning, the press was full of “Was it enough? Maybe not…” stories.

Democrats have had a hard time directing the national conversation when the unification of the party is a major media issue. As good as it was, her speech failed to quiet that discussion, and I was beginning to think the Clinton saga would overshadow the next few months and undercut Obama’s campaign. This is why I put Bill first, then Hillary, then Biden – I actually enjoyed Biden’s speech more than any of them, but I’m ranking these in order of political effectiveness, rather than simply entertainment value.

This morning, the media storyline has dramatically shifted. After Bill’s speech, all the articles are about Obama’s speech and the future of this campaign. Thank God. If I have to read one more interview with some dumbass Hillary supporter who didn’t get the memo (from Hillary herself, no less) – I think I’d have to start peeling off my fingernails. And I can’t stand the faux concern that all these reporters have about the (cue dramatic news sound effect) “split in the democratic party”. As if they haven’t been loving the soap opera!
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3.   Joe Biden – I love watching this man speak. I knew almost nothing about him before Obama tapped him for VP, but I’m starting to like him in a hurry.  Check out the section right around the 4 minute mark. Like any good Irish Catholic boy, he starts talking about his Mom.  Her expressions are priceless…
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4.  Michelle Obama – amazing speech, especially since she’s not a professional politician.  In some ways, she’s a more polished and natural speaker than any of the other guys on this list.   For me, she got across everything I needed to know about why she believes in what she does, and why Barack and her aren’t just political opportunists – I really and truly believe that these people are in it for the right reasons.  That being said, she ranks a little lower than the first three because I’m not sure that those points managed to make it through to the press.  Don’t know if it was her fault, or the coverage, but the major storyline was sort of like, “Michelle gives a good speech, but it may have been too little to late…”.
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5.  Teddy Kennedy – Missed the full import of this moment because I was out of the room for his speech, but you have to give credit to one of the greatest politicians in the modern era.  And being able to come out and give an impassioned speech while undergoing treatment for a brain tumor… yeah.  Teddy is kind of the man.  Also, amidst all the Clinton hoopla, it was nice to have him make JFK-Obama comparisons. I think it reminded people that the Clinton’s haven’t always owned the party.
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6.  Brian Schweitzer – Now we get to the new guys – low profile politicians in the Democratic party who were trying to make a name for themselves.  Schweitzer – the man from Montana – was by far the best of these.  It almost looked like he was a rubber ball up there.  With him on Obama’s side, we might actually have a chance in Big Sky country.
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7.  Dennis Kucinich – He’s a funny little dude, but I had a great time watching him.  He reminds of a munchkin – and that’s not just cause he’s short.  Something about the leathery face maybe?
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8.  Mark Warner – Kinda boring, but then again, he really didn’t have a chance.  We’ve had a remarkable set of speeches over the last few days, and he was giving the keynote four years after Obama…  it’s pretty much impossible to live up to that.  I think he did a respectable job and managed to make a few good points.  It’s enough for 8 in my book…
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9.  Craig Robinson – Michelle’s older brother he was a little stilted at times, but I really genuinely liked him, and his stories were entertaining… that beats out the conventional stump speech types….
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10.  Barack Obama -2004 speech – The rest of the Democrats kind of sucked this year – I really don’t have a lot of patience for the Nancy Pelosis of the world.  Rather than stretch it to fill out my top ten, I thought I’d throw in Barack’s ‘04 convention speech for those who haven’t seen it yet, or haven’t seen it in a while.  Great, great stuff.
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