A First

Posted by on . 8 comments.

It appears that Barack Obama is set to say that Democrats are better than Republicans twice in one speech. This will increase his total for the last four years to two. I even briefly considered watching on TV.

Update 8:00pm PDT:

Impressive.

A few thoughts:

  • Had Obama’s pre convention stump speech been more like this, he’d be up 10-12 points.
  • If this is a preview of the next two months, my bitching will substantially decrease.
  • If this was a one-time deal because he was speaking at the most partisan gathering extant, we’ll all know what a wasted opportunity really looks like.
  • I thought he was going to be able to make it all the way through without backsliding into the empty compromise talk, but this is not encouraging:

    I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination.

    Republicans don’t believe in equal pay, but Obama didn’t suggest that he was willing to compromise on that:

    And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day’s work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.

    You’re either for equality or you’re not.

  • If pundit tent-pitching is any indication, Obama knocked this one out.

    • Comments

    1. alex says:
      August 28, 2008 at 9:05 pm

      What is it you are trying to say here?

      To me it sounds like you listened to Fox’s feed wherein they drop bites, cut to dead cameras and mangle passion with an editors eye for mischief.

    2. matt says:
      August 28, 2008 at 9:10 pm

      >To me it sounds like…

      i recommend not walking down this path.

    3. Stuart says:
      August 28, 2008 at 11:25 pm

      Wow. Barack Obama is talking about holding Washington accountable to the promises of America, about facing new threats head on, while Fixing the messes that the Bush Administration has gotten us into over the last 8 years… And you want to complain about the SET of his Speach? What did you have it on Mute? Because his message seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Talk about trying to make an election out of nothing instead of facing the real issues.

    4. connie says:
      August 29, 2008 at 12:44 am

      what is it about compromise that is inherently evil to you? having polar opposites screaming at each other and demonizing each other is more appealing?

    5. matt says:
      August 29, 2008 at 1:50 am

      you people need to think (and read) before posting questions like this.

    6. Jamie Beth says:
      August 29, 2008 at 8:00 am

      alex, stuart and connie, have you been here long? if so, i hope you read this: http://www.1115.org/2008/08/11/paid-the-opportunity-cost-to-be-the-boss/
      if not, i recommend it as a good read and a quick tutorial on what matt has been saying for the past two years. this will give you a lot more context.

    7. Jonathan Versen says:
      August 31, 2008 at 1:56 pm

      It’s just a phase he’s going through. From where I’m sitting, I’d say that leaving the church he went to for years to appease Fox News and picking a wizened old whore like Joe Biden is more Obama’s style.

      It will pass.

    8. matt says:
      August 31, 2008 at 9:39 pm

      of course i tend to agree, but i’ve been browbeaten by friends and readers into a positive attitude. for the moment.