Van Duzer, a registered Republican who voted for Obama in 2008, got some homepage play across the country for his reaction to the president, who made an unscheduled visit Sunday to Big Apple Pizza and Pasta in Fort Pierce. The president said he stopped by because of Van Duzer's commitment to donating blood and raising awareness of blood shortages.
Van Duzer's response? He bear-hugged Obama and lifted the 176-pound president off the floor.
But now, he tells Politico that people are talking bad about his restaurant. Sure enough, a partisan battle broke out on Big Apple Pizza and Pasta's Yelp page, with a sudden flurry of reviewers giving him one-star reviews from far-flung states, followed by presumed Obama supporters lavishing five-star reviews from equally remote locales.
As for the boycotters, they certainly can spend their money in whatever fashion makes them feel better about themselves. But as we've said before about a certain chicken sandwich chain, do we really want to live in a country where people don't want to do business with people who don't share their beliefs? It seems no longer enough to make our arguments; now we make one-dimensional those who don’t share them.
We'll leave the last word to the pizza man:
“There’s no middle line anymore," he says, "and that’s exactly what’s wrong with our country right now.”
Peter St. Onge
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Hug the President. Get boycotted.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Barack Obama's acceptance speech, graded
How did President Barack Obama do last night? The members of the editorial board offered our immediate thoughts after the speech. Now, our popular political communications professor, Wake Forest's Allan Louden, is back with his class to critique both of Thursday's major speeches.
Louden, a national champion debate coach who has worked with politicians such as Elizabeth Dole, provided insightful analysis of speeches and debate performances for us in 2008. We're glad he's back - with company.
On Obama, here's Louden:
Four years ago Barack Obama stood in Denver’s Invesco stadium to deliver the most important speech of his young political career, acceptance of the Democrat nomination for the Presidency. The speech did not match the earlier campaign’s exultant rhetoric but intentionally sought to manage the soring enthusiasm, lower expectations of a campaign that risked becoming too sizzling.
In Charlotte the president’s task was not to tamp down uninhibited fervor but to evoke the magic of 2008. It was a moment that would welcome a transcendent moment that Obama has proven capable of delivering. That did not happen Thursday night; the delegates cheered a competent speech, politically astute, with flashes that inspired, but generally witnessed an address more akin to a State-of-the-Union, listing goals and programs, or a stump speech in Ohio, than discourse that would rally a nation.
The speech remained largely political but in the last half sought to cement the party’s distinctions. He tipped his hat to values that Republican’s present as their monopoly, individualism, boot-straps, but also strongly advanced the case for government. The rare moment of something new in the speech ironically evoked an earlier era, “We also believe in something called citizenship - a word at the very heart of our founding, at the very essence of our democracy; the idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another, and to future generations.
At the conclusion of Obama’s address, for an elongated cameo, he stood alone. He was slowly joined by his family, but never shared the typically crowded stage of party royalty, rallying in solidarity--the lone warrior, the sole crusader. This seemed to stand in contrast with the more powerful elements of his speech.
Obama has long had the ability to evoke the humble even as he boasted accomplishment. In this speech he also shared the responsibility for success with the American people. These devices marked the high points of his address while also blunted criticism of “promises keep” and unmet expectations.
Obama confessed, “And while I'm proud of what we've achieved together, I'm far more mindful of my own failings, knowing exactly what Lincoln meant when he said, "I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go."
The responsibility was not just his, but shared by an American vision. “I'm hopeful because of you . . . the election four years ago wasn't about me. It was about you. My fellow citizens - you were the change. You're the reason there's a little girl with a heart disorder in Phoenix who'll get the surgery she needs because an insurance company can't limit her coverage. You did that.
These lines remind one of Obama’s eloquence, a power to invite adherence. The speech however was much more about being commanding, sturdy, and fearless. Electorally that may be a reality, arguably what we think a president must be, but a cost was to contravene the speeches uniqueness, to appear visibly political.
In the end, on that stage he stood alone.
Grade: B
On Obama, Louden's students:
Entering the final night of the convention, it was clear that the president needed to address his past four years and make clear that he has, in fact, accomplished something. Additionally, he needed to explain, in greater detail than his opponent, his actual plan for the next four years. Most importantly, however, was the need to re-inspire and energize the base, reminding them to have hope again in their leader.
Obama did exactly what was expected of him during this speech at the 2012 DNC. The president attacked Romney and the Republican Party for old and irrelevant tactics while emphasizing his commitment to moving America forward with innovative and pertinent ideas. The president discussed getting back to the basics and getting in touch with what the American dream once meant for Americans by developing an economy where most products are not imported but made in America with better quality and wages. He also focused on many of the achievements in oil and gas consumption. He offered a solid path for economic growth through manufacturing jobs and natural gas. He made strong appeals to the working class by addressing the movement of jobs overseas, and addressed students by stating his efforts toward student loan improvements and tuition costs.
Veterans were also addressed due to issues of health care access and the president ensuring that veterans will receive the care they need upon returning home. He briefly touched on foreign policy, while emphasizing the weakness of his opponent in this area; Romney’s gaffes recently provided Obama the opportunity to question his opponent’s qualifications compared to his own four years of experience.
If Mitt Romney has been positioned by the media and his opposition as a man of privilege, unable to relate to the average American, then Barack Obama has tried very hard to position himself the embodiment of the American Dream, a young man who was able to pull himself up and forged his own path to success. Little of the president’s speech focused on his opponent and their differences directly, but implications abounded.
Throughout the speech, the emphasis was on buzzwords and popular language about returning to a strong, independent America, where education is a right, not a luxury afforded by some and at too great an expense for others, and where individuals are free to marry and build a life with whomever they fall in love with, regardless of gender.
President Obama sought to appeal to the working and middle class, focusing on issues that are relevant to their day-to-day life. By appealing to the base, those frustrated by the economy, and encouraging turn out, Obama used the convention to ask, repeatedly, for like-minded voters to turn out in November. His final minutes were full of stories of Americans who inspire him and give him hope as he continued to try to inspire some within voters. It was inspiring at times - yet a regurgitation of the same ideas.
Overall Speech: B+/A-
(Students contributing were April Walsh, Morgen Olson, Sheriah Phelps, Chloe Potash, Philip Rohrer, Grant Shambley and Jessica Pic.)
Students on Vice President Joe Biden:
Inside a jam-packed Time Warner Cable Arena Vice President Joe Biden addressed a very enthusiastic crowd Thursday night in Charlotte. Sharing personal experiences (“Barack and I have been through a lot together”) that he has witnessed over the last four years, using personal experiences from his life, and explaining why Mitt Romney is not the answer for the American people. Biden reiterated why President Obama is the right man to run the United States of America.
Biden provided a great contrast of vision and values between Obama and Romney. He preached the character of leadership of Obama, and puts a dim light over those of Romney. He said that Obama is willing to take risks that others don’t understand
Biden eloquently expressed his feelings towards Romney in regards to the automobile industry bailout. “Romney saw it the Bain way, in terms of balance sheets and write offs. The Bain way may lead to higher profits, but it is not the way to lead our country from the highest office.” Once again, the view of Romney being machine-like came to mind. A man who is all about results, who forgets about the compassion one should show another. The argument plays to the middle class and this kind of argument seems to be the bread and butter for the Obama/Biden campaign.
Without a doubt, Biden and Obama have had to face a financial crisis that is often compared to the great depression. Times have been difficult for people. “If you took responsibility you’d get a fair shot at a better life, and the values behind that bargain were the values that shaped the both of us, and many of you. Today, those are Barack’s guiding stars.” If only this were true.
Biden’s mission, however, was clear in contrasting the characters of Obama and Romney. Biden provided the audience in Charlotte with a personal, inside perspective of president Obama and his “profound concern for the American people.” He assured the people that President Obama has made very “gutsy decisions” while in office and that his heart is in the right place for the United States.
(John Mcleod, Sam Swank, Ryan Heuler, Nate Jones)Thursday, September 6, 2012
Warren got AIDS talk a seat at DNC, RNC
When President Bill Clinton mentioned in his nominating speech Wednesday night President George W. Bush's support for AIDS initiatives, it was a reminder of how HIV/AIDS has been pretty much been nonexistent in the presidential campaign and general election-year discussions.
The issue did make the Democratic Party's Platform released this week. The platform also acknowledges Bush's role in the AIDS battle noting that President Obama has "made unprecedented progress in the global fight against HIV/AIDS... building on the strong foundation created during the previous administration."
The platform continues: "With his latest budget, the President [Obama] is fulfilling his historic commitment to request $4 billion over three years for the Global Fund, and the President remains committed to robust funding for PEPFAR and the Global Fund in the future. And President Obama lifted the 25-year ban that prevented non-citizens living with HIV from entering the United States, allowing the world's largest group of HIV/AIDS researchers, policymakers, medical professionals, and advocates to convene in Washington to continue their efforts to improve prevention and treatment."
But it took Charlotte's own Debbie Warren to give a presence to HIV/AIDS at the Democratic National Convention this week (and at the Republican National Convention last week). On Wednesday I ran into Warren at a DNC event. Warren founded and heads RAIN - the Regional AIDS Interfaith Network that for 20 years has been helping and educating people about HIV/AIDS.
A while back, Warren called to query national officials about whether there would be be discussions of HIV/AIDS and policies during the national conventions, and suggest that there should be. Officials said they hadn't thought about it. But they found it a good suggestion, and with that planning got under way.
On Tuesday, there was capacity seating for the "Turn the Tide of HIV/AIDS in the U.S." event at the First United Methodist Church uptown. It aimed to educate the community about the importance of health care access and Medicaid expansion for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Discussions about HIV/AIDS at a convention in the South seems particularly appropriate. The South has the greatest number of people living and dying from HIV/AIDS. Four out of ten (40%) Americans living with AIDS reside in the South. Here in Mecklenburg County (Charlotte), seven new cases of HIV were reported on average every week.
Attendees at Tuesday's discussions included members of Congress including California Congresswoman Barbara Jackson Lee, chairman of the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus, who spoke. Jeffrey Crowley, who served as the Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy and Senior Advisor on Disability Policy for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2011 was also a speaker. As the President's chief HIV/AIDS advisor, Crowley developed the first comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States, focused on lowering the number of new HIV infections, increasing access to care, and reducing HIV-related health disparities. Physicians and other health officials, DNC delegates, activists and community leaders and people living with HIV/AIDS were on hand to discuss the state of national HIV/AIDS legislation and policy, and issues related to access to care and treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Before the conventions got under way, Ronald Johnson, AIDS United Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, gave an apt rationale for putting these talks into the political arena. He said that the political conventions "provided and opportunity to remind people that we have the tools to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in this country, if we choose to exercise our political will to do it... We must ensure that candidates both commit to and are held accountable for ensuring that people living with HIV in the United States get the life-saving treatment and care they need, and that people who don't have HIV remain HIV-free."
Posted by Fannie Flono
Obama explains his risky move
President Barack Obama just hung up with 65,000 people who had their hopes dashed and won't be seeing his acceptance speech in Charlotte tonight.
"I just want to begin by saying how much I regret that we're not all gathering in one place," Obama said.
His campaign wanted to maximize people's participation in the convention and his campaign, he said. "That's why we wanted to take a chance" by having the final night at the outdoor Bank of America Stadium. Democrats announced Wednesday they would move tonight's events to Time Warner Cable Arena.
"The problem," Obama said, "was a safety issue. I could not ask you (and authorities) to subject themselves to the risk of severe thunderstorms. You can imagine with all the nagging and security issues involved, getting 70,000 people into a place ... and getting them out of there (in case of storms) is even tougher. If we started seeing severe thunderstorms and lightning in particular, it would have been a problem.
"I know it's disappointing. ... My main message is, you can't let a little thunder and lightning get us down. We're going to have to roll with it."
Weather.com forecasts clear skies with zero percent chance of rain at 10 p.m. tonight. Forecasters say there's a 10 to 30 percent chance of rain and isolated storms in the afternoon and early evening hours.
Obama did not take questions. He said his campaign would try to set up events where people who got left out by the switch will get to see him.
The whole episode is an unnecessary misstep for the campaign. The weather is expected to be gorgeous tonight. Organizers knew there was a chance of rain in Charlotte in late summer when they announced months ago the event would be at the stadium. If anything, the weather tonight is expected to be nicer than you would have baked into your calculations when the original plan was drawn up.
We doubt many voters will switch their vote or stay home based on the Obama campaign's overabundance of caution. But in a state that you won by less than one-half of one-percent in 2008, doing anything to dampen voter enthusiasm is an extremely risky move.
Taylor Batten
Elizabeth Warren and Bill Clinton, graded
We're pleased to welcome Wake Forest political communications professor Allan Louden back to the O - and we're happy he's brought some help with him. Louden, a national champion debate coach who has worked with politicians such as Elizabeth Dole, graded speeches and debate performances for us in 2008. This week, he and his political communications class will cast their critical eyes on key DNC speeches, offering a letter grade to each.
On Tuesday, they examined keynote speaker Julian Castro and First Lady Michelle Obama. Today it's Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senate candidate in Massachusetts, and President Bill Clinton.
First off, Elizabeth Warren:
In mid-July President Obama told supporters in Roanoke, Va.: “If you’ve got a business, you did not build that – somebody else made that happen.” You would have thought the political world was asunder as opponents pounced, generating dozens of political spots and speeches. The reality of Obama’s gaffe was no more a crime than an inarticulate parroting of Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren’s powerful defense of government’s role.
The Warren convention speech attempted to right that gaffe Wednesday, through the originator’s voice. But a convention speech is different than a YouTube gone-viral video, rising on an edgy authenticity.
In her speech, Warren mercilessly attacked the Republican Party, accusing them of “chipp[ing], squeeze[ing], and hammer[ing]” the middle class on an already uneven playing field. Brimming with passionate energy, Warren unflinchingly refuted Mitt Romney’s big business focus by stating that “corporations are not people [because] people have hearts.” By displaying Romney as a cold, heartless, impersonal machine, Warren very effectively asked her audience to choose sides.
If she positioned the Republican Party the oppressor, she positioned Obama as the knight in shining armor, the hero of the masses, and the defender of the people. Here she lay on the humanistic appeal and the call to unity. Harkening back to an earlier speech, Warren painted a picture of an America that we “root it in fairness, grow it in opportunity, and we build it together.
The theme was a hit on the convention floor but failed to assess reality from a critical standpoint, offering up sound bites in lieu of concrete examples. Despite claims of “running the country for people and not corporations”—an almost inflammatory remark considering the last trillion dollars worth of bailouts went to American corporations and not the taxpayers—Warren seemed effete and preachy; a little fish in a big pond full of like-minded people who don’t make as much money.
Warren ended the speech to a roaring crowd of like-minded, but may have threatened more voters with a too concentrated enshrining of government. The moments of unique insight- those outside the expected political balderdash, were too few. She is often better when her progressive Teddy Roosevelt heart is exposed, but not when replaced by compliance with the convention script.
Grade: B
Bill Clinton:
Who can doubt that Bill Clinton’s political skills elevate above his peers (and who can doubt that he spoke too long – nearly an hour). His big-voice version of political realities resonated through the hall in Charlotte, and with a little media amplification may resound through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida.
It is easy to dismiss Clinton’s skills, especially those who cannot forgive former appetites, but he does move audiences with a clarity enjoyed by few. True, the speech after the first few minutes was unashamedly political, but other factors trump. A more interesting question is why is his speaking effective? A few reasons suggest themselves.
Clinton is direct. There is no doubt what the take away is when, in plain language, Clinton makes a point. “I want Barack Obama to be the next President of the United States and I proudly nominate him as the standard bearer of the Democratic Party.” Game on . . .
He dissected the Republican platform with poise, relentlessly. Prefacing his attack on the Romney campaign’s budget proposal and its implications for entitlements with a long list of bi-partisan accomplishments gave the former president a rare measure of ethos in today’s political world. He never came across as mean; instead he seemed disappointed that the programs he had once worked with Republicans to strengthen had become issues of such acrimonious debate today; unsolvable, unwinnable.
Clinton uses argument. After more evidence than others would dare to put in a speech, he offered a position that exceeds slogans, concluding on one refrain: “It turns out that advancing equal opportunity and economic empowerment is both morally right and good economics, because discrimination, poverty and ignorance restrict growth, while investments in education, infrastructure and scientific and technological research increase it.”
One of Clinton’s most effective rhetorical strategies was the running tally he kept of jobs created under Democratic and Republican administrations over the past 52 years. In that time, Republican administrations have created 24 million jobs; the Democrats, 42. “So what’s the job score?” asked the president. “Republicans: 24 million. Democrats: 42.”
This segued into a comparison of President Obama’s job creation as compared to the jobs Congressional Republicans have created since 2008—Obama: 4.5 million. Republicans: 0 — and a comparison of the jobs saved in the auto-bailouts compared to the number of jobs that would have been saved under the Mitt Romney plan of allowing the companies to fold—Obama: 250,000; Romney: 0.
In this way, Mr. Clinton diagrammed the party’s history of job creation and the President’s own record when tested against his two biggest adversaries these past four years in Mitt Romney and the U.S. Congress. Whether or not party or presidential platforms were directly responsible for every job created in Clinton’s analysis was irrelevant last night, all that mattered was the score.
Clinton did not disappoint during his speech. Using a combination of humor, facts, and anecdotes, he captured the crowd with his charismatic rhetoric “I want to nominate a man cool on the outside but burning for America on the inside. . . I want a man for president who had the good sense to marry Michelle Obama.” There were echoes of an emblazoned Ted Kennedy of conventions former, but in a voice that invited rather than instructed.
Grade: A+
Student participants: Joe Perretta, Lillis Hendrickson.
DNC Day 3: The Good and Bad (and Ugly)
The Democratic Party's biggest star took the microphone Wednesday - and wouldn't let it go. Guess who's among the winners and losers of the day?
The Good:
Bill Clinton: At 11:03 Wednesday night, President Bill Clinton grabbed the stack of papers that was supposed to be his speech but was really only a guide, and said: "That brings me to health care." By then, his speech already had gone over the time allotment.
At 11:14, he said, "Let's talk about the debt."
Backstage, President Barack Obama probably didn't mind at all.
There will be no better endorsement offered to Obama this election. Clinton was his usual mesmerizing self and more. He methodically tackled the Republicans position by position - from health care to jobs to welfare. He was thorough and passionate, scholarly and charming. "Y'all need to listen," he said more than once. On Paul Ryan attacking Obama on Medicare: "It takes some brass to attack a guy for doing what you did."
Yes, we all remember Clinton's failings. But on this night, to this crowd and beyond, he was a perfect complement to Obama in personality and style. Both of the presidents, like all great speechmakers, can make the big point in simple ways that resonate. But Wednesday, Democrats needed Clinton also to be the sensibility to Obama's soar. Forty-eight minutes later, he'd done just that.
The Bad:
So, we checked the weather forecast this morning - you know, just in case anyone was thinking of making some evening plans. Nothing's changed - 30 percent chance of rain all evening, 20 percent by the time Obama takes the stage. In other words, September in Charlotte.
We've already said we think Democrats blew it Wednesday by moving the president's speech from Bank of America stadium to the arena. We get the concern about lightning, and we understand the worry about optics if everyone decides to avoid a potential storm and show up at 9, clogging the lines and leaving seats empty. All of which were considerations - or should have been - months ago.
Democrats, of course, don't want to go around disappointing 65,000 people, so they'll offer the suddenly ticketless a conference call with Obama this afternoon. That pales with the history of seeing the president accept the nomination, so there understandably was some dismay Wednesday from those who volunteered or stood in line for the opportunity.
There also was some thoughtfulness. Said Teresa Meyers of Waxhaw, who had waited in line for tickets for nearly eight hours: “I may not be in the arena, but I will be there in spirit.”
And the Ugly:
We thought we'd already covered this: No Nazi references, people. Direct or indirect. On Monday, it was the chair of the California Democratic Party linking Republicans to Joseph Goebbels. On Tuesday, it was a Kansas delegate linking Republicans to Hitler.
And now, South Carolina Democratic Chairman Dick Harpootlian compared S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley to Hitler's mistress. Harpootlian, commenting on Haley appearing at an RNC news conference in the basement of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, told S.C. Democrats that Haley "was down in the bunker a la Eva Braun."
Harpootlain declined to apologize later, instead blaming Haley for having "some hurt feelings."
Peter St. Onge
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Duke Energy feels heat of protesters
Helmeted police on bicycles outnumbered the protesters in front of the Knight Theater Wednesday but the group demonstrating against Duke Energy still managed to put the Charlotte utility in an uncomfortable spotlight again.
Duke is still reeling from a public shellacking in North Carolina for how it handled its merger with Progress Energy. It fired Progress CEO Bill Johnson, who was set to head the merged company, barely twenty minutes after the merger became official this summer. N.C. regulators who had to approve the merger felt deceived by the action.
Wednesday's protests were more political in nature. Duke is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council, known as ALEC. It bills itself as nonpartisan but has endorsed and been providing state legislatures and lawmakers with a template of conservative policies, some of them quite controversial such as "Stand Your Ground" gun laws and voter ID legislation which some view as voter suppression schemes. That has prompted a lot of activists to call on companies to drop their membership.
Duke Energy is a prime target, especially during the Democratic National Convention this week. Duke's chief executive Jim Rogers played a big role in getting the DNC here and Duke has underwritten some of the convention and provided the DNC with a huge line of credit.
So it was no surprise that activists cornered Rogers this week and reportedly tried to get him to pledge that Duke would drop its membership. Rogers reportedly told Whit Jones of the Energy Action Coalition that "he'd be listening," when Jones asked if he'd listen to the 100,000 who've allegedly signed petitions for Duke to drop its ALEC ties. When pressed for a firm commitment to drop ALEC Rogers reportedly said "I'm not going to give you [a commitment right now] but you can trust that I'm paying attention to what you're saying, and you'll know in due time."
The activists are putting on a full court press, getting Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer to say he would urge Duke to “get out of ALEC ASAP.”
Other members of Congress apparently are urging the same. Duke is in an embarrassing spot. The activists gathered on the sidewalk in front of the Knight Theater made sure they felt the heat Wednesday.
Clinton tries to spark another first
Monica Who? Ancient history for Democrats.
Former President Bill Clinton basked in his party’s adulation tonight, then stood with surprise guest President Obama and hoped his uncanny popularity was rubbing off in living rooms around the nation.The two of them hugging on stage would have been considered an unlikely sight four years ago when Obama was in a bruising fight with Clinton’s wife for the nomination.
But that, too, was a distant memory tonight. Clinton avoided potential pitfalls throughout his 50-minute speech. He took shots at Mitt Romney, but didn’t settle for just that. Clinton also overcame his tendency to withhold full-throated endorsements of his peers, backing Obama without reservation as the man to return America to prosperity. And he managed to remind voters of the muscular economy he presided over in the 1990s without sullying Obama with the comparison.
Some voters still remember Clinton more for his moral failings than for leading the nation during a time of great economic strength. But not many. His approval ratings – 69 percent in a USA Today/Gallup poll last month - are higher than they were on his inauguration day in 1993. Almost two of three independents and even almost half of Republicans give him high marks.
So he was an obvious choice to be the opening act, even if there was a risk of overshadowing the main event.
Obama "stopped the slide into depression and put us on the long road to recovery, knowing all the while that no matter how many jobs were created and saved, there were still millions more waiting, trying to feed their children," Clinton said.
It is testament to Clinton’s political skills that he looked the American public in the eye and lied in 1998, and yet Democrats found him utterly believable Wednesday night.
A president has never won reelection in an economy this bad. But Clinton’s climb from impeachment to widespread popularity was a first. Now with Clinton’s help, Obama might pull off another.
The professor is back, grading DNC speeches
The Professor is back - with his class this time. We're happy today to re-introduce Allan Louden, a political communications professor from Wake Forest who was one of the most popular features of the Observer's 2008 election blog, The Ballot.
Louden, a national champion debate coach who has worked with politicians such as Elizabeth Dole, graded speeches and debate performances for us in 2008. This week, he and his political communications class will cast their critical eyes on key DNC speeches. Each speech gets a letter grade.
First off is Tuesday's keynote speaker and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, followed by First Lady Michelle Obama.
Julian Castro:
In an evening designed to “fire-up-the-base” and remind voter why they liked Barack Obama in 2008, San Antonio Mayor, Julián Castro filled both bills in what was an old fashioned Keynote speech. He electrified the convention hall and by inference those constituencies who must rally for a Democrat victory in November.
The speech will inevitably be compared to Obama 2004, offering a narrative of single mothers raising promising sons, but it was not so much about Castro as it was a full throttled endorsement of Obama’s vision. Castro’s speech argued it is individual achievement the builds the country yet only in the context “It Takes a Village.” Government was defended as necessary for there to be Opportunity; the Horatio Alger “rags to riches” retold boldly with a Democrat twist; a not so subtle defense of Obama’s awkward “builds a business” comments.
Castro began the speech armed with a powerful personal story about his family’s generational struggle to make it in America, a pitch-perfect narrative for a Democratic Party seeking to strengthen its economic message. Born to a second generation Mexican-American single mother, he focused largely on the importance of investing in education to promote prosperity and maintain the American Dream. “In the end, the American dream is not a sprint or even a marathon, but a relay,” said Castro, referencing the constant support his mother gave to him and his twin brother Joaquin.
Throughout the speech, Castro sought to draw a sharp contrast between President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney, both in terms of their experience seeking success and the policies they would implement if they won. In a particularly biting remark against the controversial budget plan crafted by Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan, Castro argued we don’t “accept the idea [that] some folks won’t even get a chance. And the thing is, Mitt Romney and the Republican Party are perfectly comfortable with that.”
Mentioning the budget comes with risks, highlighting Democrat’s shortcomings in proposing their own plan to address the deficit. The speech may have also lacked the policy specificity desired by those who think the country needs a clear road map to economic prosperity rather than lofty overtures to the American Dream, especially when said overtures lack strong references to immigration and voter ID laws, two issues Democrats often play up as impediments to equal opportunity.
Regardless, convention speeches generally check detailed policy at the door in favor of allowing potential up-and-comers to show their party why they should be a household name. Indeed, Julian Castro may be on the tongues of many left-leaning Americans in the coming days. If his keynote address was any indication of what’s to come when President Obama formally accepts the party nomination on Thursday night, Democrats may just leave Charlotte with enough inspiration to carry them through November.
Grade: A-
Michelle Obama:
Student Contributors: Taylor Harvey, James Harris, Cameron Goguen, Ryan Bauder, Maeve Coyle, Taylor Barlow, Richard Min, Niko Spezial, Kerrigan O' Malley, Brandon Ng, Delon Lowe.
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