Xblog

Upon reflection, I don’t think this was a particularly amazing or eloquent speech. In a lot of ways, it was very calculated and a repetition of campaign speeches going back as much as a year (and in some ways even echoing Obama’s 2004 Convention speech). It still brought a tear to my eye. Why? Because this is the kind of response I’ve been hungering for in reaction to the usual “gotcha journalism”, holier than though punditry, politics of division, reducing lifetimes to one unfortunate sound bite or image, focus on the horse race not the challenges, political ADD, and dammit-we-won’t-stop-this-insanity-until-someone’s-career-is-over, campaign against some talking head rather than your opponent, yellow journalism masquerading as political correctness, idiocy that has plagued us for so long, and has basically owned the 2008 presidential campaign process almost before it started.

Seriously, I’d only have been prouder if he’d just walked up to the podium with a sign behind him saying something along the lines of, “A Message For Those Concerned By Ferraro, Wright, etc.”, waited for silence, and then with both hands, emphatically performed the Trudeau salute, then silently stepped down from the podium. Unfortunately, that path leads to the PMO in Ottawa rather than 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in D.C.

…plus, this was a bit more uplifting.