Following up on the last post, which talked about what Barack Obama’s victory in Iowa means, I wanted to also take a moment (or two) to comment on what was a heckuva speech.
As a matter of substance, a speech is just rhetoric. As a matter of campaign strategy, an address thanking Iowans for their support probably wasn’t seen by too large a television audience. But I’ve been a speechwriting junkie since I was a young kid, and I watched Obama’s victory speech and kept saying to myself, “Damn.”
The funny thing, to me, about Obama’s recent rhetorical history is his ability to exceed absurdly-high expectations. In 2004, everyone expected him to give a great nominating address at the Democratic convention. In January 2007, everyone anticipated a good announcement speech. In November, everyone thought he’d bring down the house at Iowa’s Jefferson-Jackson dinner. About a week ago, everyone imagined his “closing address” would be persuasive. And last night, everyone assumed he’d say something inspiring to an Iowa crowd that had worked tirelessly on his behalf.
But in every instance, Obama capitalized on the pressure and delivered speeches that are even better than what the political world expects. Last night was particularly impressive.
Ezra, who, I think it’s fair to say, is not Obama’s biggest fan, summed up the reactions of many of us.
Obama’s finest speeches do not excite. They do not inform. They don’t even really inspire. They elevate. They enmesh you in a grander moment, as if history has stopped flowing passively by, and, just for an instant, contracted around you, made you aware of its presence, and your role in it. He is not the Word made flesh, but the triumph of word over flesh, over color, over despair. The other great leaders I’ve heard guide us towards a better politics, but Obama is, at his best, able to call us back to our highest selves, to the place where America exists as a glittering ideal, and where we, its honored inhabitants, seem capable of achieving it, and thus of sharing in its meaning and transcendence. […]
[S]o much as I like to speak of white papers and scored proposals, politics is not generally experienced in terms of policies. It’s more often experienced in terms of self-interest, and broken promises, and base fears, and half-truths. But, very rarely, it’s experienced as a call to create something better, bigger, grander, and more just than the world we have. When that happens, as it did with Robert F. Kennedy, the inspired remember those moments for the rest of their lives.
The tens of thousands of new voters Obama brought to the polls tonight came because he wrapped them in that experience, because he let them touch politics as it could be, rather than merely as it is. And for that, he deserved to win. And he deserves our thanks. The politician who gets the most votes merits our congratulations. But the politician who enlarges our politics and empowers more Americans to step forward into the public square deserves our gratitude. And we, in turn, deserve to permit ourselves to feel inspired, if only for a night.
Remember, that’s from an Obama skeptic.
If you’re reading this site, chances are you’re not a political neophyte with a passive disinterest in the presidential race. But for most Americans, the process began in earnest last night, and Obama’s thank-you speech may very well have been the first time a lot of people heard him speak.
And if so, it was quite an introduction.
To be sure, speeches won’t win elections. But it’s a start.