Obama's Oratorical Trap
The delegates here want razzle-dazzle. But the voters want more.
By Byron York
National Review Online
Denver — About midway through the schedule at the Democratic convention Tuesday night, I ran into a British friend in the hallway that runs outside the main arena of the Pepsi Center. He, like me, had ducked out of the big room for a few minutes' relief from the overwhelming tedium of the convention program.
He had an idea. “There ought to be a rule at conventions that no speaker can say anything that's already been said, he told me. All the points would be made, but just once. “The whole thing wouldn't last a night,” I said. “Twenty minutes,” he responded.
And even then it might be boring. The truth is, from the standpoint of style and oratory, this Democratic convention has been a bust. From Virginia Senate candidate Mark Warner's poorly-received keynote address — with lines like “You know, America has never been afraid of the future, and we shouldn't start now” — to Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer's inspiring declaration that “We're pursuing coal gasification with carbon sequestration,” the Democratic delegates who pay any attention to the podium have been forced to wage a constant battle against boredom.
The only truly rousing speech at this convention has come from a man who had to get out of a hospital bed to deliver it. Yes, Michelle Obama's address on Monday was popular, and yes, Hillary Clinton's speech last night was widely praised, but in those cases the crowd inside the Pepsi Center seemed to be celebrating the speakers' presence as much as what they had to say. For every “No way, no how, no McCain” that Sen. Clinton spoke, there was an equal and opposite clunker, like “This will not be easy. Progress never is.”
This is a convention starved for a good show.
By Byron York
National Review Online
Denver — About midway through the schedule at the Democratic convention Tuesday night, I ran into a British friend in the hallway that runs outside the main arena of the Pepsi Center. He, like me, had ducked out of the big room for a few minutes' relief from the overwhelming tedium of the convention program.
He had an idea. “There ought to be a rule at conventions that no speaker can say anything that's already been said, he told me. All the points would be made, but just once. “The whole thing wouldn't last a night,” I said. “Twenty minutes,” he responded.
And even then it might be boring. The truth is, from the standpoint of style and oratory, this Democratic convention has been a bust. From Virginia Senate candidate Mark Warner's poorly-received keynote address — with lines like “You know, America has never been afraid of the future, and we shouldn't start now” — to Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer's inspiring declaration that “We're pursuing coal gasification with carbon sequestration,” the Democratic delegates who pay any attention to the podium have been forced to wage a constant battle against boredom.
The only truly rousing speech at this convention has come from a man who had to get out of a hospital bed to deliver it. Yes, Michelle Obama's address on Monday was popular, and yes, Hillary Clinton's speech last night was widely praised, but in those cases the crowd inside the Pepsi Center seemed to be celebrating the speakers' presence as much as what they had to say. For every “No way, no how, no McCain” that Sen. Clinton spoke, there was an equal and opposite clunker, like “This will not be easy. Progress never is.”
This is a convention starved for a good show.
posted by Andy W. Rogers | 7:09 PM
1 Comments:
Obama opines: "“I'm much more concerned with communicating how I intend to help middle-class families live their lives.”
Here's the difference between liberals and conservatives: Liberals look to government to help them "live their lives." Convervatives want government to leave them alone.
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