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Obama Delivers Masterpiece Speech, McCain Makes Dumb Pick For VP

Obama Straight Killed it Last Night

What a wonderful speech by Barack Obama last night as he mixed stylish oratory, hard hitting attacks on John McCain and clear explanations on his policy positions in 50 minutes.

He went after everyone and left no stone unturned as he laid the foundation for the speech by telling the story about his family. This started with the video introduction as it was clear he not going to focus on race on the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I have a dream speech”. The video clearly show that he was “like anyone else” as his mother was a white woman from Kansas and his father was from Kenya. A foundational point was that this election was not about Obama or any political party but about the need for change and made a plug for post-partisanship. We all are suffering from the policies of the Bush administration and Obama understands both the problems and good solutions to helping middle class Americans.

Want specifics on policy stances that Obama has? He ticked off no fewer than 29 policy positions and solution specifics on how he would accomplish these things. Obama went on to say that a balanced budget is important, that he would eliminate programs that were not working so that these programs could be paid for, at the same time giving a tax cut to 95% of working families. He addressed important issues such as health care coverage, taxes, economic stimulation, taking care of veterans and ending the Iraq War, and ending our reliance on foreign oil.

The speech was also significant because many Democrats wanted Obama to not be like Michael Dukakis in 1988, who refused to go on the attack. Well, attack Democrats wanted and that’s what they got in this speech. Obama went on offense by going on defense and took shots at McCain while also answering the criticism that Obama was a celebrity, was not patriotic, etc. In a memorable moment, Obama said, “McCain said he would follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of Hell, but he won’t even follow him to the cave he lives in!”

This was the exact type of performance Obama need and which his supporters (and even the undecideds) wanted to hear. I’m sure he won over a lot of undecideds with this speech, and I was moved by it and certainly felt both hopeful again in the “American promise” Obama referenced several times and felt called to act by his pleas for personal responsibility and civic action.

McCain is an Idiot

Brave? Perhaps. Stupid? Certainly. John McCain has selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Surprising, yes. But will it make an impact? In the end, no. I think Palin will help McCain with social conservatives and probably pick up a few votes in the West, but that’s it. I think on balance, she is a liability and shows that McCain has exhibited bad judgment, yet again.

How she hurts him:

Young, inexperienced: For all the calls that Obama is inexperienced and a “celebrity” Palin is even younger and more experienced than him. She is 44 years old, and has only been the governor for two years. She has no foreign policy experience and zero national political experience. At least Obama has been a U.S. Senator for 4 years. Talk about being a heartbeat away from the presidency: If John McCain dies or is incapacitated, would YOU want Palin to the be the President. No, I didn’t think so.

She will get destroyed by Biden in debates: Joe Biden is a talented debater and will shred her based on his knowledge of the issues and his skills. I can’t wait for the VP debates.

McCain should have gone middle of the road: I think the general election strategy has to be to run to the middle, to the independents. This pick does not do this. Independents and Hillary Clinton supporters will not go for this ticket just because there’s a woman on the ticket. Give the voters some credit, McCain! This pick is about style and not substance. If Hillary Clinton and her supporters want another reason to back Obama, just look at the issues supported by Obama and McCain given this choice. It’s a no-brainer.

Change for change sake: This was a desperate move by McCain. He was hoping to pick women off with this pick? I don’t think so. It’s the issues, idiot! McCain could not compete with Obama on the “change” factor, therefore, he picks Palin, a woman from Alaska to try to shake things up.

For these and other reasons, this is a huge gamble that McCain should not have taken. Her story may resonate with social conservatives, but Obama wasn’t going to get those votes anyway. McCain gets points for bravery, but loses even more for his lack of acumen and wisdom here. Dumb, dumb, dumb.