It’s unquestionably true that speeches are not the be-all, end-all of a campaign, and it’s simply not reasonable to judge the merits of a candidacy on rhetoric alone.
But it’s also true that Barack Obama keeps delivering speeches that confound expectations and raise his stature. Last night’s acceptance speech in South Carolina was another gem.
Jon Cohn suggested it may have been Obama’s best speech of the campaign thus far. Andrew Sullivan (who isn’t exactly a neutral observer) said, “I’ve now listened to and read dozens of his speeches, on television and in person and in print. Tonight was, in my judgment, the best.” Noam Schieber said Obama sent one “out of the park.” Slate’s Christopher Beam said, “It was a reminder of how much better Obama is at speechifying than debating…. If debates had 30-minute time limits instead of 30 seconds, the man would be unstoppable.”
Following up on a point I raised a few weeks ago, as a matter of substance, a speech is just rhetoric. As a matter of campaign strategy, an address thanking South Carolinians for their support on a Saturday night probably wasn’t seen by too large a television audience. But I’ve been a speechwriting junkie since I was a kid, and I watch these speeches and keep saying to myself, “Damn.”
If you watch it, pay particular attention to how Obama, with varying degrees of subtlety, not only repudiates Bush and his style of politics, but lumps Clinton in with a broken status quo, without mentioning any names.
“We are looking for more than just a change of party in the White House. We’re looking to fundamentally change the status quo in Washington – a status quo that extends beyond any particular party. And right now, that status quo is fighting back with everything it’s got; with the same old tactics that divide and distract us from solving the problems people face, whether those problems are health care they can’t afford or a mortgage they cannot pay. So this will not be easy. Make no mistake about what we’re up against. […]
“We are up against decades of bitter partisanship that cause politicians to demonize their opponents instead of coming together to make college affordable or energy cleaner; it’s the kind of partisanship where you’re not even allowed to say that a Republican had an idea – even if it’s one you never agreed with. That kind of politics is bad for our party, it’s bad for our country, and this is our chance to end it once and for all.
“We are up against the idea that it’s acceptable to say anything and do anything to win an election. We know that this is exactly what’s wrong with our politics; this is why people don’t believe what their leaders say anymore; this is why they tune out. And this election is our chance to give the American people a reason to believe again.”
It’s the first major speech in recent memory in which a candidate took his rival’s talking points, and used them to his advantage.
Also note, this wasn’t just pleasant talk about bringing people together. More so than after his Iowa victory, Obama pivoted to issue specifics that highlighted why he wants to bring about fundamental change, talking about healthcare, the environment, education, and the war in Iraq.
I was also struck by Obama’s ability to tie progressive ideas to patriotism.
“[W]hat we’ve seen in these last weeks is that we’re also up against forces that are not the fault of any one campaign, but feed the habits that prevent us from being who we want to be as a nation. It’s the politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon. A politics that tells us that we have to think, act, and even vote within the confines of the categories that supposedly define us. The assumption that young people are apathetic. The assumption that Republicans won’t cross over. The assumption that the wealthy care nothing for the poor, and that the poor don’t vote. The assumption that African-Americans can’t support the white candidate; whites can’t support the African-American candidate; blacks and Latinos can’t come together.
“But we are here tonight to say that this is not the America we believe in. I did not travel around this state over the last year and see a white South Carolina or a black South Carolina. I saw South Carolina. I saw crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children. I saw shuttered mills and homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from all walks of life, and men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. I saw what America is, and I believe in what this country can be.”
It elicited “USA! USA!” chants, which tends to get reporters’ attention.
Whether any of this really matters remains to be seen. In about nine days, more than 20 contests will go a long way in deciding who the nominee is going to be, and in most instances, voters in those states will not have heard any of Obama’s recent speeches. Stirring oratory won’t be enough to carry him across the finish line.
But in the short term, it’s a start.
