BOSTON--There’s no getting around the fact that last night was a very good one for the Dems at their convention. With Howard Dean and Barack Obama, they got a good tap into the mojo.
Dean delivers
The reception that Dean continues to get from Democrats calls a question: why was this guy deemed “not electable”? I saw the same thing happen at the aforementioned fundraising dinner in Washington--on a night that was to be Kerry’s, the very mention of Dean’s name from the main stage evoked a prolonged ovation. (At that event, Dean was relegated to the small stage from the side of the room, speaking during the cocktail hour with the other also-rans.)
Conventional wisdom conspires to tell us that a firebrand is a danger in an election year where the future of the nation is at stake. I say that a tepid candidate is every bit as much of a danger.
Obama lives up to hype
And it was quite a lot of hype to live up to. The youngster from Illinois--and the Land of Lincoln's next new senator--raised convention rhetoric to nothing short of soaring; his may just be the best convention speech I’ve heard since Mario Cuomo’s in--was that 84?
By the time Obama got to his red-state, blue-state riff, he had your blogstress in full trance. My favorite line:
We worship an awesome God in the blue states...>
‘Twas also gratifying to hear that...
...we have gay friends in the red states
--especially gratifying since that was the first mention of the word “gay” heard during prime-time from the convention podium.
Smart and well-informed
Teresa was, as always, fascinating, especially in her take on what a woman should be: a person of beliefs expressed aloud, a person free to pursue her goals.
I hope the Kerry campaign is listening. I’ve yet to be impressed with its regard for women voters: we are clearly the part of the base that the campaign takes most for granted.
Where ya gonna go?
Our old friend, conventional wisdom, says of women voters--or voters from any group struggling against discrimination, for that matter: Where ya gonna go?
Sure, few of these voters will vote for Bush. But the question should not be, “where ya gonna go?” but rather, one that could come from these voters on November 2nd: “Why go out at all?”
In Election 2004, the Democrats need every single member of their base groups to get to those polls. In swing states, little more than a few hundred voters could determine whether a state goes red or blue. It’s time to order up the roses and the chocolates. I’m ready for some wooing.
Comments