Considering that Obama's acceptance speech will be delivered on the 45th anniversary of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, I thought this would be appropriate. This is probably the best speech I have ever seen.
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I have to admit, after a sort of slow start, Michelle Obama really made the first night of the convention worthwhile.
I'll say this, the Dems know how to frame their candidate through narrative and sentimentalism, the thing that worries me is that the other side has always appealed to visceral, and often times hateful drives of the American voter when its their time at bat (see Pat Buchanan's "Culture War" speech and of course, Zell Miller).
To say that Republicans have acheived success by appealing to American nationalism, or by reproducing an American narrative is a bit of a misunderstanding, in my opinion.
The Democrats and their Ken Burns presentation displayed a narrative more clearly in line with the standard concept of what is considered American than what the Republicans usually put forth. Can you imagine someone, other than the enormously wealthy or pathologically racist, relating to Cindy McCain more than Michelle Obama, or considering her life story as "more in line" with the American narrative than Obama's? Of course not.
The New Right doesn't appeal to narrative, but exclusion. Thats an important nuance to recognize.
I completely agree pug. But I also know (and I think you hint at this in your comment) that a lot of voters out there are, sorry to say, complete idiots. They don't care. And they are not very nice people. This is another hole in the Democratic narrative of the American life: this notion that "the people" are somehow decent. This, in fact, is at the heart of Obama's narrative.
But if you think of many individuals you encounter in your daily life, you will quickly realize how hollow this notion is: people are selfish, greedy, self-centered, spoiled, and pretty hateful often. How is that for optimism.
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