@sozobe,
Last night I was thinking about Martin Luther King Jr and the "I have a dream..." speech, as well as remembering the horrendous fight to guarantee black people voter registration rights in the Southern states. And then Obama walked out on the stage, accepted the nomination, and I felt the tears of joy well up inside of me. This was the dream, it was now a reality. This was a very historic moment, for our entire country, and, for me, the emotional impact of this event was very powerful.
Unfortunately, I did not feel any emotional impact from the speech that Obama then gave. I wanted him to sweep me off my feet, and help me put aside my regrets that Hillary wasn't standing on that stage in his place. I wanted him to dispel my lingering doubts about his lack of experience. I wanted him to show me how he would rally people to prevent another Republican take-over of the White House. But, for me, those things just didn't happen last night. He gave a perfectly adequate speech, for the circumstances, but it fell far short of being inspiring or even revealing. He did not say what I needed to hear.
Obama will definitely get my vote in November, but I'd like to be able to give it more whole-heartedly. Most importantly, I want him to show me that his lack of experience is not going to matter because other factors, such as his intelligence, or open-mindedness, or grasp of issues, will help to balance it out. He obviously has enormous emotional appeal for many people, but that is not the same as having true leadership ability. It is not enough to offer "hope" or "change", he has to convince people to follow his specific ideas, attitudes, and proposals. To do that, he must first define himself more, since he does not have an extensive past record for people to look at. In his debates with Hillary Clinton, I felt she seemed much better versed on the issues, and some of his ideas, particularly on foreign policy, struck me as somewhat naive. If McCain makes him seem weak or naive in this area, it will be disasterous. Idealism in foreign policy is admirable, but it's got to be balanced with pragmatism, an appreciation of the constraints inevitably placed on a president, and a thorough knowledge of all of the issues and consequences involved with any possible position. Obama needs to show that he really understands these things. That did not come across to me last night. But, at least, he did point out that McCain's military service, while admirable, did not particularly qualify him to be Commander-in-Chief either.
The entire Democratic tack of simply linking McCain to Bush really seems to me a weak strategy. McCain is not Bush. McCain has to be attacked mainly on his own record, in very specific terms, and not just with phrases like, "He voted with Bush 90% of the time". And, given the fact, that McCain previously admitted he understands little about the economy, doesn't even know how many houses he owns, etc. the Democrats should be able to mop up the floor with him on the major domestic issue. They touched on these things during the convention, but then lapsed back into suggesting we'd be getting four more years of Bush. Thank goodness there is no way on earth we can get four more years of Bush. People need to be convinced we don't want four years of McCain because of who McCain is, what he has done in the past, what he stands for, and where he is likely to lead the nation, in very specific terms.
Make no mistake. I am a dyed-in-the-wool lifelong Democrat. I not only want a Democrat in the White House, I want to feel he will be a very good president, and more than adequately prepared for the job. Obama has two months to convince me before I pull that lever in November, and I want him to convince me, so I can cast that vote without simply seeing him as the lesser of two evils. And, if he can't convince me, he won't garner the votes he needs from independents, and others, that he needs in order to win. I do believe that too much is at stake for our country, and I really don't want to see the Democrats blow another presidential election.
I think the convention got things off to a good start, particularly in terms of party unity, but I think it missed an opportunity to pull harder punches against the Republicans, to actively convince undecided voters, and to present Obama as a genuinely inspiring leader. But, hopefully, the campaign will accomplish all of those things. I am optimistic.
and this didn't take anything to the next level of wowedness. The movement aspect, the positivity and hope, is part of what's wowed me, for sure. I love that, and have loved being right in the thick of it (volunteering for the campaign, etc.)
