Democratic National Convention '08

[BarTopDancer]

scaeagles,

You really should try to watch Obama's speech. The content may be the same as what you read, and may be what it is important to you, bu the delivery is what will make/made a huge impact on others. I don't think anyone can make a truly educated statement on the impact the speech will have made without actually listening to it.

Possession is 9/10th of the law and delivery is about 7/10ths of the impact.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Fear of failure only works if it motivates one to do all they can to help. If you feel that you're probably going to fail, how hard are you going to try? Simply saying that you predicted those outcomes and you predict another negative outcome actually hurts. For the forest to be green, each leaf must be green. What if all of us leaves agreed, saying "he's probably not going to win"?

Same goes for assassination talk. Kinahora, poo poo poo. Such a shame, really, that we're in this wonderful moment regardless of November, and people can't enjoy it and add to the momentum with their own shining beacon.





As for Leo listening to the speech - as I said before, I think that he won't hear it the same as others might. The words mean different things. It couldn't hurt, though after seeing his posts here, I don't think the speech will persuade him. That's as negative as I'll get...

I can't wait to watch the Republican Convention just to see just how much I don't understand of their language these days.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

As for Leo listening to the speech - as I said before, I think that he won't hear it the same as others might. The words mean different things. It couldn't hurt, though after seeing his posts here, I don't think the speech will persuade him. That's as negative as I'll get...

I can't wait to watch the Republican Convention just to see just how much I don't understand of their language these days.

There are many brilliant orators who are and were despicable people, able to persuade with passion or personality. I am NOT suggesting Obama is a despicable person in the least so don't read it that way. I find that reading what someone has to say in a speech takes the magic of personality and charm or whatever the individual possesses out of the equation so I can focus on what they've actually said.

[innerSpaceman]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

I find that reading what someone has to say in a speech takes the magic of personality and charm or whatever the individual possesses out of the equation so I can focus on what they've actually said.

All well and good, but don't pretend to know whether a speech was effective or not. It goes way beyond the mere words.


Not that the words aren't important. Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural remains perhaps the best political speech of all time, and I never got to hear it. So I have NO IDEA whether it was effective in its day. Perhaps the speech was ruined by Lincoln's poor delivery, I have no idea.

But I can't claim to know all about the 2nd Inaugural just because I read it in letters four feet high carved in marble on the walls of the Lincoln Memorial and it made me weep. Or just because it's rightly famous and well-studied. I didn't live in Lincoln's times and so I can never know.


Not to equate Obama or Gore or anyone alive today with Lincoln, but what a shame to have the opportunity to hear a speech, to see it delivered, and not take advantage of it. If I'd have been in D.C. to hear Lincoln give that address, but decided to just read it in the Gazette ... I would have jumped in front of that bullet at Ford's Theater.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

All well and good, but don't pretend to know whether a speech was effective or not. It goes way beyond the mere words.

I haven't alluded to that I thought it was ineffective, nor have I suggested that others adopt my.....philosophy, for lack of a better word....of reading rather than listening.

In fact, earlier I said I had no doubt it was delivered brilliantly.

How far does "it" go beyond mere words? If reading the speech of Lincoln made you weep, without the experience of him saying it, than weren't the words themselves powerful enough to evoke that response? If Lincoln were a slow speaker or had speech mannerisms and inflections you found annoying, perhaps hearing the speech would have diminished the words he was saying.

Again, it's just how I prefer to approach political speeches. There is also the advantage of not having to endure endless applause interruptions.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

I have to agree. With Tom, and with Brad.

Certainly, I have been with Obama since his speech four years ago. I've wanted him to run for president ever since. I want very badly for him to win. But if you'll notice, I'm not in the political threads anymore. I don't know how many of you recall, but I used to spend the majority of my time in the political threads, pre-2004. I was empassioned, I was actively volunteering, I was full of hope. And then, I was completely crushed. Heartbroken. My faith in the people of this country was shaken, and my willingness to follow politics as closely all but lost.

I would've thought, that night four years ago, that I would be on the front-lines for Obama. And surely, I'll be donating, I've been talking to those around me about it, I've done what I feel I can. But I can't say that I don't live in fear of being crushed again. I'm terrified that McCain and his beauty queen (by which I mean second wife and/or VP) are going to appeal to those who don't educate themselves on the issues. I'm terrified that there are more people who don't educate themselves on the issues than we imagine. Last time, I was SO SURE my candidate - who I liked, and for whom I campaigned - was going to win. I couldn't imagine it'd be otherwise. It was. Never again will I be able to say that anything is certain. I have hope that this is possible. I have fear that it isn't.

[Tom]

I was just about to express total agreement with your response.

[Tom]

But I will say that I agree totally with your edited response. It was my feeling the last two times around.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

I don't regret the energy I put into the campaign. But I am bitterly disappointed in the people who voted for Bush, still to this day. If I am at all pessimistic, it is not doubt in Obama, or in any of you. It is doubt in the unnamed masses who watched the first four years of this administration and actually thought it merited a second four.

[Morrigoon]

Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick

I don't regret the energy I put into the campaign. But I am bitterly disappointed in the people who voted for Bush, still to this day. If I am at all pessimistic, it is not doubt in Obama, or in any of you. It is doubt in the unnamed masses who watched the first four years of this administration and actually thought it merited a second four.

Guilty. But it was kind of a "two turds in a bowl - pick one" sort of election. I just chose the wrong turd, and believe me I regret it (not that my vote, as a Californian, mattered)