Speechifying

[bcholmes]

Dayum. I just got around to watching the the Obama speech everyone has been talking about. I loved Obama's keynote back at the DNC four years ago, and greatly admired his speaking ability.

I think that, for a long time, I believed my friends who said that "he's running for vice-president." I think that, for several months, I was most struck by the message that John Edwards had about the perils of uncontrolled corporations, but I never believed that he'd become the candidate. Mostly, I was resigned to a Clinton ticket (I suspect that she won't deviate in any meaningful way from the Bush doctrine).

But, wow, I love how Obama has taken the lead, and his speeches are fascinating examples of political dialogue the likes of which I haven't seen in a long, long time. The US could do a lot worse than Obama.

(I'm trying to think about any really beautiful speeches from Canadian politicians. It occurs to me that the only examples I can come up with have all come from inside parliament, where, of course, nobody pays attention. Rae's speech in favour of the same-sex marriage bill in June, 1994. Paul Martin's speech on the same topic in 2005. These were good speeches. Pity Canadian news outlets choose not to televise any of them, favouring instead the soundbytes that can fit into a 15-second video clip.)

I think that the parties the US has don't... well... really represent a broad political spectrum. Maybe Obama's belief in the possibility of America can serve as an example there, as well.