DENVER
From start to finish, an emotion packed day at the convention ending on such a high note– the arrival of Barack Obama, who shows up by surprise as Joe Biden wraps up his acceptance speech.
Biden was good as always, funny, charming, personable. He introduced his mom and connected with the audience. And then he charged hard against his old pal McCain. First, he exposed his new opponent’s weaknesses in foreign policy. And then he showed how GOP policies have ravaged American families. I thought Biden was best as he described the conversations taking place in middle class homes across the nation, where families are beset by impending job loss, credit card debt, mortgage defaults. As opposed to convention bellowing, Biden brought his voice down and I thought he really created a winning intimacy. It’s the reason Obama picked him. Biden is the regular guy who gets it. He seems ready for this new role. Biden’s run for the presidency in the past always seemed somewhat like overreaching. Although, Biden has been an achiever from day one (elected to the Senate at 29), there was always one or two guys percieved to be much better. He was always No.2 or 3. And now at No.2, he looks to be a winner.
He didn’t need Bill Clinton’s build up. “I love Joe Biden,” said Clinton. He loved Obama too, showing a love that we didn’t see just months prior. “Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she’ll do everything she can to elect Barack Obama,” said Clinton. “That makes two of us.”
The crowd went wild. There’s still a lot of love for the Clintons among convention goers, who greeted Clinton with an applause that wouldn’t die. When it did, the president showed his grace and charm. And I thought he gave what for him was a very short speech. This wasn’t his show. And he knew it. This was B.O.’s sop to the Clintons and they were gracious.
Later, at a Clinton party at Coors Field, the former president spent time with members of his administration, many of whom now work for Obama. Clinton told them he was taking “the red-eye” out of town. He apparently will not be at Mile High Stadium Thursday night for the crowning of Obama.
Not his dream.
That was part of the emotion of the night. The official transfer of Democratic love began earlier in the day when Hillary spoke to a large crowd of convention goers at a side meeting in the convention hall. In a more intimate setting than the night before], Hillary released her delegates to the dismay of supporters, some of whom cried when Hillary supported Obama on Wednesday night. On Wednesday, some were in denial. Some needed more time to mourn. They didn’t want to give it up. And part of me sensed that Hillary didn’t either. But the rules are the rules, and politics is also about losing — and faking it well. Hillary then went to the Pepsi Center arena where she moved to suspend the roll call vote and give the nomination to Obama by acclamation.
It was the only winning touch one can put on losing.
When Bill Clinton came up later, it was really just a return gesture of respect from Obama. This is the show business part folks. The actors are playing their role and delivering their lines credibly.
We are left to speculate what they are really thinking.
The other speeches worth noting: Sen. John Kerry and Tammy Duckworth, the highest profile Asian American who had a failed bid for Congress and now is the state veteran’s department head in Illinois.
Kerry was sent out as an attack dog on McCain and did marvelously well. So well that, one had to wonder, what happened four years ago in Boston? Kerry was so good, it was sad to see. But there can only be one winner and it was not Kerry either the last go round, or now.
On behalf of Obama, Kerry went after McCain hard comparing the positions of Senator McCain and Candidate McCain: ” Candidate McCain now supports the wartime tax cuts that Senator McCain once denounced as immoral. Candidate McCain criticizes Senator McCain’s own climate change bill. Candidate McCain says he would now vote against the immigration bill that Senator McCain wrote. Are you kidding? Talk about being for it before you’re against it. Let me tell you, before he ever debates Barack Obama, John McCain should finish the debate with himself.”
Man, Kerry was good. Not good enough to be president four years ago, but good enough to go on attack for B.O. Wednesday.
The night was reserved for those on the long and short lists of Obama–for whatever. it was payback. So there was the likes of Evan Bayh, Tom Daschle and Richard Daly. None of them truly memorable.
Just part of the speech drip of convention rhetoric
Most interesting was the inclusion of APA Tammy Duckworth, who is rumored to be on the shortlist to take over Obama’s senate seat if Obama wins.
Duckworth was ready for primetime. She is not a powerful speaker, but she carries a powerful elevator speech. She’s a former helicopter pilot who had her legs blown off in Iraq. Nuff said. She’s a gamer. She can deliver the tale on security. She put her body on the line. She has credibility.
And she mentioned her proud Asian American heritage (she’s from Hawaii).
When she walks away from the podium, her mechanical limbs are revealed and it’s a powerful image.
There were other APA speakers. Mike Honda spoke to the crowed Tuesday, as did the new hero in California, State Controller John Chiang. But Duckworth is the odds on bet to make a national splash sooner than later.
The personable Honda was at his forceful best in the intimate setting of a caucus room where he continued to be the leading APA voice in Congress on the FIlipino Veterans Equity bill that must pass by the end of September or the issue dies.
Chiang is simply California’s rising APA star, whose fight against Schwarzenegger on the state workers’ pay issue has raised his profile immensely. At this convention, he’s establishing himself and his credibility. His time will come on the national stage.
This was the last night at the Pepsi Center as the venue shifts to Invesco/Mile High Stadium Thursday. The Dems packed the hall to the gills, displacing even media members who were reassigned spots in the crowd. I found myself up in the nosebleed seats for 4 hours of speeches.
It was a rock concert atmosphere. Melissa Etheridge helped with a rousing set that include “God Bless America,” and “Born in the U.S.A.” (Rumor has it that Bruce Springsteen and John Mellenkamp will be at Invesco Thursday). The rock music plays into the “best practices” of how to keep a convention arena crowd engaged, i.e., “not bored.”
And when your candidate is called a “rock star” the rock concert metaphor makes more sense than it ever did.
When Barack Obama ended the night with his cameo, the place went crazy.
Conventions are like slow drips. Speech, speech, and more speech about a guy who isn’t there. He’s talked about in the third person, so much, the absence acts as a fertilizer to the mythic build up.
And then on the third night, before the official appearance on Thursday night, he’s there.
The crowd goes wild. Barack Obama is in the house. He was there in his personable “black” voice, the comfortable down home sound, that B.O. uses among family and friends. It was a street cred sound that’s different from his Harvard Law Review sound. It’s all the same guy. The multi-cultural, multi-racial guy has different sounds. And he uses them all to his advantage. He played up with Biden, referred to Biden’s mother as “Mama Biden,” and gave everyone a taste of what was to come.
Thursday is his night. His dream. Our dream? Its’ now the Democratic Party’s dream.