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PrintAugust 27, 2008
Obama Will Hit A Homerun With His Speech -- But Not Score
As things stand today, the campaign of still prospective Democratic nominee Barack Obama may well go down in History as one of the worst ever waged. Remember that when media talking heads and DNC spin doctors get around to suggesting any potential loss is all about Race.
The man who would represent change selected one of the most Inside the Beltway politicians available to him, and in doing so he effectively squandered away any generational argument he might have used against his rival, Senator John McCain.
The man who would insist this is "all about us," has done everything he can to inform us this is all and only about him in the end. That holds true from his European Vacation to his splash in Hawaii, right up to his expected acclamation on a classically Grecian stage before the masses in a football stadium. Perhaps it was chosen as the only Denver venue that could hold his ego - who knows.
Recently a liberal commenter to my blog claimed I didn't get it. Obama would be on a stage in a stadium before 75,000 supporters while John McCain was off milling about on two or three little league baseball fields in the Midwest. I can't think of a clearer example of how disconnected the neo-Liberal mindset is from the heart and heartland of America that, after all, always elects its Presidents.
No doubt Barack Obama is planning on hitting the proverbial home run with his speech. I suspect he will. And that in a nutshell sums up Obama's problem. Hitting a homerun on a little league baseball field somewhere in the Midwest scores you points. A homerun in a football stadium only manages to put the ball out of play.
Actually, the NFL has a fine in place for that very thing. I suspect the penalty assessed by voters on Obama for his transgression will be much steeper than that.
A moving speech in the middle of a professional stadium can indeed be a majestic, even a transformative thing. Lou Gehrig comes to mind. An untested amateur desperately displaying the trappings of greatness before they were earned looks like someone out of his league.
