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Showing posts with label Speeches. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Speeches. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Obama Victory/Acceptance Speech - Nov 4 - Video
Here is the video of Obama's acceptance/victory speech last night in Grant Park in Chicago:
Monday, October 27, 2008
Obama's 'Closing Argument' Speech in Ohio - Video
Here is the video of most of Obama's "Closing Argument" speech, which was delivered today in Canton, Ohio. It brought my dear mums to tears:
Here's my mom's assessment:
Just finished watching Obama's speech this morning,
absolutely moving, on point, and fantastic.
Holy Cow, Batman! Hope brimmith over!
Did you watch it? If not, see it soon.
Who needs prozac when we'll have him?
Update: Here's a gem of a quote from the speech (full transcript here). I'm sure you'll agree that it's chock-full of fiery, radical, tax-and-spend, liberal rhetoric:
Now, I don't believe that government can or should try to solve all our problems. I know you don't either. But I do believe that government should do that which we cannot do for ourselves -- protect us from harm and provide a decent education for our children; invest in new roads and new science and technology. It should reward drive and innovation and growth in the free market, but it should also make sure businesses live up to their responsibility to create American jobs, and look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road. It should ensure a shot at success not only for those with money and power and influence, but for every single American who's willing to work.
That's how we create not just more millionaires, but more middle-class families. That's how we make sure businesses have customers that can afford their products and services. That's how we've always grown the American economy -- from the bottom-up. John McCain calls this socialism. I call it opportunity, and there is nothing more American than that.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Obama: There are no 'fake' parts of America - Video
Here is Obama responding to what appears to be a deliberate, concerted effort by McCain and the Republican Party to paint parts of the country as "pro-America" and "anti-America":
Transcript Here
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Union Leader Denounces Voting Based on Racism
Andrew Sullivan points out this really powerful speech by the AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka. You need to watch the whole thing. Think about this the next time someone says they're "not comfortable" with Obama or "I heard he was Muslim" or some other "I'm not a racist but..." excuse...
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Obama Speaks About the Economy in Colorado
John Cole pointed out an interesting parallel today between McCain and Hoover:
“On the morning of October 30, 1929, President Herbert Hoover awoke the day after the biggest one-day stock market crash in American history, surveyed the state of the U.S. economy and declared, “The fundamental business of the country, that is production and distribution of commodities, is on a sound and prosperous basis.”
Sound familiar?
Here's video of a great speech on the economy today by Obama in Golden, Colorado.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Biden En Fuego!
For any of you who still haven't appreciated the awesome attack-dog qualities Joe Biden brings to the ticket, check out this video:
(h/t Purple State)
Friday, September 5, 2008
Toobin: McCain Speech 'Shockingly Bad'
I didn't watch McCain's speech last night but it looks like the emerging consensus around the Internets is that it was at best bland and lifeless, and, at worst, "shockingly bad" and "the worst convention speech since Jimmy Carter". Here's CNN's Jeffrey Toobin:
Friday, August 29, 2008
Pat Buchanan: Obama Gave Greatest Speech Ever
Republican stalwart Pat Buchanan was gushing so much about Obama's speech tonight that he had to be cut off by Keith Olbermann. Here what he said, with video.
"It was a genuinely outstanding speech. It was magnificent. It is the finest - and I saw Cuomo's speech, I saw Kennedy in '80, I even saw Douglas MacArthur, I saw Martin Luther King - this is the greatest convention speech, and probably the most important because unlike Cuomo and the others this is an acceptance speech. This came out of the heart of America and he went right at the heart of America..."
Not only that, supreme Republican douchebag Alex Castellanos (who produced disgusting race-baiting ads for the late King Racist Jesse Helms) also couldn't find a negative word to say about it:
"Whoever didn't get picked for Republican VP today may be a lucky Republican."
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Obama's Speech at the Convention: AMAZING - Video
Wow, I can't begin to describe how profound Obama's speech was just now. Here is the video. My thoughts were best summed up by Andrew below. I am so proud to have been able to witness Obama's speech tonight.
Here is the transcript of Obama's masterful speech.
Great Quotes:
- "It's time for [the Republicans] to own their failure."
- “[John McCain] says he will follow him to the gates of hell, but he will not even follow him to the cave where he lives.”
- "I've got news for you, John McCain: We all put our country first."
Here's Andrew Sullivan's thorough and well-crafted take:
It was a deeply substantive speech, full of policy detail, full of people other than the candidate, centered overwhelmingly on domestic economic anxiety. It was a liberal speech, more unabashedly, unashamedly liberal than any Democratic acceptance speech since the great era of American liberalism. But it made the case for that liberalism - in the context of the decline of the American dream, and the rise of cynicism and the collapse of cultural unity. His ability to portray that liberalism as a patriotic, unifying, ennobling tradition makes him the most lethal and remarkable Democratic figure since John F Kennedy.
What he didn't do was give an airy, abstract, dreamy confection of rhetoric. The McCain campaign set Obama up as a celebrity airhead, a Paris Hilton of wealth and elitism. And he let them portray him that way, and let them over-reach, and let them punch him again and again ... and then he turned around and destroyed them. If the Rve Republicans thought they were playing with a patsy, they just got a reality check.
He took every assault on him and turned them around. He showed not just that he understood the experience of many middle class Americans, but that he understood how the Republicans have succeeded in smearing him. And he didn't shrink from the personal charges; he rebutted them. Whoever else this was, it was not Adlai Stevenson. It was not Jimmy Carter. And it was less afraid and less calculating than Bill Clinton.
Above all, he took on national security - face on, full-throttle, enraged, as we should all be, at how disastrously American power has been handled these past eight years. He owned this issue in a way that no Democrat has owned it since Kennedy. That's a transformative event. To my mind, it is vital that both parties get to own the war on Jihadist terror and that we escape this awful Rove-Morris trap that poisons the discourse into narrow and petty partisan abuse of patriotism. Obama did this tonight. We are in his debt.
Look: I'm biased at this point. I'm one of those people, deeply distressed at what has happened to America, deeply ashamed of my own misjudgments, who has shifted out of my ideological comfort zone because this man seems different to me, and this moment in history seems different to me. I'm not sure we have many more chances to get off the addiction to foreign oil, to prevent a calamitous terrorist attack, to restore constitutional balance in the hurricane of a terror war.
I've said it before - months and months ago. I should say it again tonight. This is a remarkable man at a vital moment. America would be crazy to throw this opportunity away. America must not throw this opportunity away.
Know hope.
Real People Speaking, Not Covered by Nets
I am watching a series of real people in something called "The American Voices Program" speaking before Barack Obama gets on stage in a little while. It is unfortunate that none of the nets except for C-SPAN are carrying it because the people's stories are very compelling. I will try to post video when I can find it.
Kucinich's Convention Speech: 'Wake Up America!'
A bit late I admit but Dennis Kucinich gave a fantastic speech yesterday at the convention with the some of the best Bush-slicing red meat thus far.
Here's the video:
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Reactions to Clinton, Kerry and Biden Speeches
From The Daily Dish
Crowley on Clinton:
...that was full-throated, sincere-sounding, and sophisticated case for his wife's former mortal rival. He didn't even mount a touchy retroactive defense of his record fom the 1990s, which I had somewhat expected. I predict a wave of, "Oh, Bill, how can we stay mad at you?" commentary in the coming days.
I was feeling sorry for John Kerry having to follow Bill Clinton in the speaking lineup, but he electrified the audience as I have never seen him do before. As Scherer just said to me: Zell Miller without the mean.
Bill Clinton gave two speeches tonight. He closed with the stronger one, namely that the GOP doesn't deserve to be rewarded for the past 8 years. That argument works because it's fundamentally true in many ways. But he began with a speech endorsing Barack Obama, and that was, well, embarrassing...What he showed tonight is that even one of the best salesmen in the Democratic Party can't make the case for President Obama.
Bill Clinton's speech rightfully grabbed attention, but John Kerry's appearance--interrupted by a commercial break on CNN--was the best stab the Democrats have taken towards establishing something they've desperately needed: A master narrative for understanding John McCain.
It was striking that Bill Clinton never uttered the words "John McCain." Four years ago, that steady insistence on retaining the robes of the presidency, levitating an inch or two above the fray, made sense. It was Clinton choosing a particular, and honorable, path that forever defined him as an ex-president rather than an ex-candidate. But after heatedly involving himself in the Democratic primary, after often attacking Barack Obama by name, it seemed peculiar that he would hold that portion of himself in reserve. Four years ago, Clinton wasn't a campaigner. This year, he was.
John Kerry is whining. He isn’t helping Obama. He just used “swift-boating” as a verb. Now he’s droning on about having been criticized as an anti-war protestor. [sic] They should have kept him as far away from a podium as possible.
Bill Clinton gave the strongest, most compelling, and persuasive political speech of this entire season. He has upstaged Biden, but that doesn’t matter...Here is a sign that things don’t look promising: as soon as the speech was over, Sean Hannity of Fox News started whining about why Clinton was not staying for Obama’s Thursday night speech. This is a speech that needs to be refuted, not complained about.
Joe Biden: Heartwarming and Tough - Video
Great speech from Joe Biden tonight. He took a little bit to get warmed up but had a great series of barbs for McCain.
Here is the video:
Here is the transcript.
Bob Casey Convention Speech - Video
I just found the video of Bob Casey's speech from the convention yesterday. Casey noted that while McCain casts himself as a "maverick," he has voted with Bush 90 percent of the time. Casey then said, "That's not a maverick, that's a sidekick."
Reactions to the Clinton DNC Speech
For the record, I thought Hillary's speech was great. See my take and the video here.
Here are some reactions from The Daily Dish
I'll amend this if I'm mistaken but on first read of Hillary's speech text I see no clear, flat assertion that Obama is qualified and prepared to be commander in chief from day one, which of course was always her central critique of him. That was something I had expected to see.
I agree with the rapidly-emerging conventional wisdom that she did everything he could possibly want, and I think Hillary's delivery is miles ahead of where she was when she began this race. She ate her Wheaties this morning.
I'd say that Sen. Clinton has had the best performance so far, by a wide margin, both in terms of attacking John McCain and the Republicans head-on and defining a nauseatingly comprehensive set of plans for raising taxes, getting mad at companies for "shipping job overseas," and pushing universal health care (or more accurately, even more expensive and less effective health care).
Most of this speech could have been given a year ago. It has nods to Obama, but it's almost entirely about her. It's not an attack on McCain, it's not a case for electing Obama, it's just nostalgia and platitudes.
Clinton did little to sell Obama's personal characteristics, his qualities or ability as commander in chief. She mentioned Obama 12 times, McCain 12 times. But Clinton's speech probably did what it had to, closing out ambiguity and putting Obama in a position to close the deal on Thursday.
After watching Hillary tonight I imagine the William Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, Reverend Michael Pfleger, Reverend James Meeks and Samantha Powers (ousted Obama advisor) wish they had backed her. This woman does not throw people under the bus. She is a person of integrity and sticks to her word. She sticks with people who, by their conduct, deserve to be abandoned. But she finds in herself the grace to forgive and look pass the sin. She promised to support the nominee, no ifs, ands, or buts. And she delivered. She gave Barack Obama everything he could want and much more than he deserves.
Maybe it's unfair to expect this of Hillary specifically, but what I want at some point during the convention is the equivalent of what Zell Miller did in 2004 with his keynote: vicious, personal attacks against John McCain. The kind of attacks that Obama can't do because of his image, and Biden can't do because of his friendship with the Macker.
It wasn't a speech about Barack Obama, or Hillary Clinton, or even George W. Bush. It was a speech about being a Democrat, and what electing a Democrat will mean for the country. Tonight, she was the party's standard bearer. And she, and those of her supporters who aren't using her candidacy as a means to elect John McCain, deserved that.
...this was an immensely powerful delivery, and a richly woven together speech. The beginning seemed fine but not remarkable. But it slowly built into something very powerful.
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer's Speech - Video
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer gave a great, little noticed speech tonight that touched on some great energy issues.
Best line:
If we drilled everywhere… if we drilled in all of John McCain’s backyards- even the ones he doesn’t know he has.
Here is the video:
Monday, August 25, 2008
Michelle Obama's Convention Speech
Absolutely remarkable. I just watched Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic Convention. It was a moving, sincere and touching speech. Great job!
Here are some reactions:
Ben Smith: "Michelle could hardly have done better in the biggest speech of her career. She's been on the trail for more than a year, but still gives the impression of being a little realer than the seasoned pols."
Andrew Sullivan: "One of the best, most moving, intimate, rousing, humble, and beautiful speeches I've heard from a convention platform. Maybe she should be running for president. You don't need any commentary from me. This was a home-run. And sincere. Thank God that in the end, the truth struggles out there."
Purple State: "I had thought going into tonight that Ted Kennedy's speech would be the one that could bring Democrats together across the Obama-Clinton divide. I was wrong. Michelle Obama proved herself a dynamic, captivating, and fantastic public speaker. I will post the video tomorrow. If you didn't see her speech tonight, watch it."
Click here to read the transcript of her speech.
Update: Here's the video
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Obama Speech on Economic Security
Here's a recent Obama speech on economic security. We need change.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Obama's July 24th Speech in Berlin
Here's the video of Barack Obama's July 24th speech in Berlin, Germany. I still haven't watched the whole thing but, from what I've seen, I'm very impressed:
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Obama: Burying the 'Dumb President' Meme
Thank God:
Our most brilliant presidents, [Author Elvin T.] Lim says, often work hard to seem publicly dumb in order to avoid the stain of elitism—amazingly, Bill Clinton’s total rhetorical output checks in at a lower reading level than Bush’s. Clinton’s former speechwriters told Lim that their image-conscious boss always demanded that his speeches be “more talky”; today, he’s widely remembered as a brilliant speaker who never gave a memorable speech...
Obama seems to have taken the opposite tack: He’s a Clinton-style natural who flaunts the artifice of his speeches and refuses to strategically hide his intelligence. Compared with his rivals, Obama’s skill-set seems almost otherworldly. His phrases line up regularly in striking and meaningful patterns; his cliché ratio is, for a politician, admirably low; his stresses and pauses seem dictated less by the usual metronome of generic political speech than by the actual structures of meaning behind his words. He tolerates complexity to such an extent that he’s sometimes criticized as “professorial,” which allows him to get away with inspirational catchphrases that would sound like platitudes coming from anyone else.
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