Hit it out of the park.
I like John Dickerson’s take:
After one of several passages in which he described the troubles of everyday people, he said, “Tonight I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and independents across this great land—enough!”
It was the single most emphatic word of his address. Change is all well and good, but when Dad says, “Enough,” the kids stop fooling around. It conveys an urgency and determination that talk of change simply does not.
Yes, Obama came across as dead-serious and ready to lead. He addressed specific policy ideas and articulated a grand vision of 21st-century America. Watching him, you felt the truth in your bones: America has a shot at regaining glory. Under McCain, this country’s sunk for good.
McCain has picked a woman, Alaska’s Sarah Palin, as his running mate. Andrew Sullivan’s rundown: She’s a 44-year-old first-term governor of a state with a population of under a million. She has no foreign policy experience whatsoever. Zero. And she’d take over as president of a nation fighting a two-front war in the event that something happens to the elderly McCain. Contrast that with the mettle of Joe Biden.
A cynical attempt to scoop up Clinton Democrats. Putting country first indeed.
[Update: The GOP counterstrike, obviously, will be, “Oh now you care about experience.” But Obama’s grounding in foreign policy is far more substantial than Palin’s. And you want to talk about women qualified for high office? Obama’s very likely pick for Secretary of State is his foreign policy adviser Susan Rice, who wrote her Ph.D. dissertation on Zimbabwe.
Dahlia Lithwick writes: “I am not sure what ‘experience’ even means when it comes to the vice presidency.” It means being prepared to become president at a moment’s notice. Joe Biden certainly is.]
Comments are closed.