Democratic National Convention 2008

I'm surprised I'm the first one to make the thread on this, I saw another one, but it was made four years ago. Anyway, did anyone here catch the convention last night? It aired on both CNN and TVone yesterday at around 8 if you live in the east coast. I thought that it was great; a few of those people that spoke sounded like they were speaking from memory or reading a screen, but Caroline Kennedy, Edward Kennedy, and Michelle Obama did great! I was surprised to see Edward there because of his late illness with his brain tumor, but to be sick he spoke brilliantly and passionly well. They really brought the issues that concerns with us now in this country: about the oil prices, the war, and health care issues. I was surprised to see that republican there and I knew he was going to be boring before he even spoke, I mean come on his name is Jim Leach, that sounds like a boring republican's name.I don't think I took a word in what we said.
I only caught a glimpse of Hilary's speech, but Michelle's speech was the best. It was also so adorable when Obama appeared on the screen and his daughters were talking to him. It was great how Michelle related herself to all Americans as a whole with her talk about her past and how she grew up. That discerned the remarks from others that said she grew up with a silver spoon in her mouth. I also caught the after party program that aired after it, but didn't bother to watch the entire thing. So what's everyone else's opinion on it?

I watched it but it didn't change my mind on anything. :p I'm still going to vote Obama.

I work in downtown Denver and the Democratic National Convention is literally less than a mile away. It is hard to believe that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and other political figures are mere moments away.

I don't believe that Obama is in Denver yet. Last I heard, he was in Iowa talking to a group of people, and a small section of his speech was played on CBS (the part about how McCain is like Bush). Anyways, wifey's speech was pretty good, and the most enjoyable part last night was when his daughters came onto stage, and the young one asked "where are you, daddy?" You could almost literally see the question dodge, the animu teardrop, and a big giant set of red letters saying "MISS!"

He'll be accepting on Thursday in the Stadium, I believe. I could be wrong.

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Originally Posted by Tavrobel

Anyways, wifey's speech was pretty good, and the most enjoyable part last night was when his daughters came onto stage, and the young one asked "where are you, daddy?" You could almost literally see the question dodge, the animu teardrop, and a big giant set of red letters saying "MISS!"

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I don't know if that was as much him avoiding the question as it was a combination of the satellite delay and not being able to hear what his daughter was saying. :) Eventually he told her he was in Kansas City when she asked again.

I still think he was a little hesitant to want to answer the question, since it was his own daughter that pointed out "hey, you're not here right now." A bit of a political faux pas, but an understandable one. He does need to garner votes in contested states. I must have missed the Kansas City response, though.

Michelle Obama was fierce last night. Seriously, love her and I'm so excited to have a first lady of such intelligence and dignity as opposed to a stepford wife like Cindy McCain.

I'm a Hillary fan, but in lieu of Hillary, I'll gladly take Michelle Obama.

Excited to hear the speeches from Hillary, Biden, and Obama in the next few days.

Hillary didn't have a speech yesterday, I didn't think. She speaks tonight.

I watched the whole thing, somehow. Pelosi's speech was incredibly boring. Ted's was nice, and Michelle's was also good.

I was immensely bored by Obama's sister's speech. She kept saying the most generic, obvious things. I turned the TV off and went to the gym. :/

Sup, Mitt Romney?

I liked seeing Ted Strickland speak. Ohio, represent!

Well that was more direct of a call for unity than I expected out of Hillary. Seems like speechmakers are becoming more and more increasingly harsh of McCain. Then again, it does seem like a natural evolution; I have yet to see more than a single attack ad against the GOP in an hour. From what I can tell, her speech was a lot of attacking Bush as the premise for party unity, and plenty of "these are my experiences." She even managed to sneak in another personal hope for universal Health Care, which I do not believe that Obama has formed a plank on. It was inevitable that she invoke the anniversary of the Women's Rights Convention.

Wisdom says: unite the party by common enemy. "McCain is my friend, but... [McCain and Bush] are awfully hard to tell apart."

Also, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits?

Great speech by Hillary. Hopefully it's enough to bring Hillary supporters over to Obama's side. But I can imagine that on the flip side, her speech tonight only highlighted how Presidential she can be, and that must be a bummer for Hillary fans to watch and realize that she's been passed over.

In any case, I thought her speech was very strong in supporting Obama as well as stating all the major points of the Democratic platform and sufficiently attacking Bush and McCain.

I was highly impressed with her speech, to be honest. I didn't expect to be, but it was expertly delivered and she knew what she was talking about and what she was doing.

If someone can provide a youtube link or a video post of Hilary Clinton's speech, I've been looking for it but I can't find it..

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Originally Posted by Remulak

If someone can provide a youtube link or a video post of Hilary Clinton's speech, I've been looking for it but I can't find it..

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BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Clinton in unity call to delegates

Thought it was rather sad about how they placed the delegates. Namely placing Delaware's right at the front whilst moving New York's further back in the company of Montana, New Hampshire and North Dakota (I think). I mean, I know it doesn't make much difference, I just thought it was slightly petty.

I've only really seen clips thus far and it's been relatively interesting. Not really a fan of conventions myself because I just find them to be several days of just spreading broadly the same message and being a bit dull. A bit like British party conferences only moreso because they always seem to try to be more spectacular and have a lot more razzmatazz to them.

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Originally Posted by Heath

Thought it was rather sad about how they placed the delegates. Namely placing Delaware's right at the front whilst moving New York's further back in the company of Montana, New Hampshire and North Dakota (I think). I mean, I know it doesn't make much difference, I just thought it was slightly petty.

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Uhh... Delaware begins with a D, which precedes the letters M and N in the alphabet. :greenie:

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Originally Posted by Yaridovich

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Originally Posted by Heath

Thought it was rather sad about how they placed the delegates. Namely placing Delaware's right at the front whilst moving New York's further back in the company of Montana, New Hampshire and North Dakota (I think). I mean, I know it doesn't make much difference, I just thought it was slightly petty.

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Uhh... Delaware begins with a D, which precedes the letters M and N in the alphabet. :greenie:

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Well, Newsnight suggested that it was a rather last minute move prompted by the selection of Biden as the vice presidential nominee and nothing to do with alphabetical order. I may have the states wrong anyway. Either way, that's what I was going on.

There are an overwhelming amount of reasons why Delaware would sit up front including candidate, alphabetical order, admission to the union, etc. (Illinois is sitting up front too). New York is sitting with Montana and such because that's where it's placed in the alphabet.

My point was really that it's rather odd for a rather important electoral state like New York (and coincidentally the state Clinton represented in the Senate) to be in the company of the likes of Montana and North Dakota whereas Delaware a less populous, less influential and arguably less significant state to have been moved to the front. I was sad enough to just check the wording on Newsnight and they specifically said 'moved' and so I find it slightly improbable that at the last minute they decided to change the seating plan based on alphabetical order or admission to the union and not because of Biden.

I realise I'm probably being equally petty, but I just thought it was worth mentioning.

The speech that Bill Clinton just gave has been my favorite to this point. It's the first one to really attack McCain for what he is, and attack the Republicans, because it's very easy for him to compare this sham and joke of an administration to the eight years that preceded it.

And it had, I think, the best line of the campaign so far, and the main reason we must keep McCain out of the White House: "The world will always be more impressed with the power of our example than by the example of our power."

It's nice to see my party finally attacking McCain. I think they might have wanted to unify first before going on the offense. But it's about time they do something other than sit back and allow the Republican Party attack them without fighting back.

Clinton and Kerry were both great today. The Democrats have such great orators on their side. I'm not as familiar with the Republican side of things so I don't know, but do they have people to match what the Democrats have done?

I know for sure Cindy McCain ain't got nothin' on Michelle Obama.

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Originally Posted by Kirobaito

Hillary didn't have a speech yesterday, I didn't think. She speaks tonight.
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She had a small one that day. I liked Hillary's speech too, but all around it was kindof boring that day. There were a lot of great speeches last night. Bill Clinton spoke well so did Kerry, and Joe Biden. That asian woman who was in the air force spoke passionelty as well. I was kind of unsure at first, but now I believe that obama picked the right candidate for his VP. He surprise appearance last night was also good.

I've been watching it more and more. Hillary's speech was unbelievable . . . She's awesome. And then Bill's? Perfect. I like how he made the analogy between himself being "too young" and Obama.

I was REALLY shocked at how good John Kerry's was though. I wish he'd had that fire four years ago. Maybe we would have had a much more pleasant past four years. :/

I already like Obama more than Kennedy, at least he didnt publicly announce he was a doughnut in front of all those people in Berlin.... lol.
To clarify:
"Ich bin Berliner" means "I am a Berliner"
"Ich bin ein Berliner" means "I am a donut"
Kinda.

Doughnuts in germany are called Berliner because that doughnut variation stems from there.

Im exaggerating. "Ich bin ein Berliner" is acceptable, its like saying "I am one with the Berlin citizens." There are obviously subtleties heh.

I dont really know much about the current elections though.

Why should it interest me you say? Because im not American? Well, lets face it, American elections concern the whole world for good and for bad.

Obama just burned Bush pretty bad.

=/

He's burning McCain pretty badly, too. He got that "eight is enough" chant started pretty quickly.

Quickest way to get cheers is blame Bush.

EDIT: He just called McCain ignorant, too.

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Originally Posted by Tavrobel

He's burning McCain pretty badly, too. He got that "eight is enough" chant started pretty quickly.

Quickest way to get cheers is blame Bush.

EDIT: He just called McCain ignorant, too.

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Unfortunately, for the 10% of us who aren't sheep, this method doesn't make you sound too promising.

Not that I'm disagreeing with him. :tongue:

Hux and I are watching this right now, and as soon as we heard the Bush zinger:

"Oh SNAP!!! =O"

Yeah Obama's rip pissed and just tore McCain and Bush a new one.

I love it.

He also just made a jab at McCain's age. xD

EDIT: Is that B.D. Wong standing next to Michelle Obama? :confused:

I like the part where he'll pay teachers more and open more jobs for them. Mmmmmmm, my futureeeeee~~~~

Michelle's expressions are amazing, I just adore her. She's such a cool woman. She is a true feminist, not the lame psuedo "feminists."

I heard a Langston Hughes reference somewhere.

Summary: big giant attacks on the current Administration, attacks on McCain in the form of "you don't know anything, so it's better to make it look like I know nothing" and "what's wrong with celebrity?" Reinforces the idea of inherent (or rather, a lacking of) American superiority, and a plan for the top. I think I even heard something that had the audacity of suggesting bi-partisan efforts. What a jerk.

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Originally Posted by Rye

Michelle's expressions are amazing, I just adore her. She's such a cool woman. She is a true feminist, not the lame psuedo "feminists."

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This is interesting coming from you cause I think you were one of the anti-hillary people? I think Hillary and Michelle are both incredibly strong women who want equal rights for women, which is essentially what feminism is actually about. And to be sure, Hillary has done more for the feminist movement than Michelle has, but she's also been villanized a ton lot more too.

Anyway, Barack was amazing. Best speech of the whole convention and given the caliber of the people who spoke before him, that's really saying something. I honestly can't imagine how it's even possible for someone to watch that speech and not be motivated to vote for him. I'd go as far as to say that this speech was perfect, it couldn't have been better.

I'll get into the policies another time. Right now all I can say is that that was one of the best speeches I can recall witnessing in my life.

I definitely respect Hillary's strength and her feminism, but as a nominee for president, she just irked me, personally. I don't know if I'd like Michelle as a nominee for president herself (though if she did run, I'd certainly be curious to see what she'd be about), and she herself said she's not at all into politics deep down, but she's amazingly inspirational as a working woman and a mother. So it really more comes down to the vibes I get from them. I get better vibes from Michelle, by far, and she's easier to relate to, for me. :)

And yes, I'd ditto on that, it's just about the best speech I've ever heard.

Kind of off topic, but did anyone see tonight's Moment of Zen on The Daily Show? The newsman said that Obama is the son of a black man from Kenya and a white man from Wichita, Kansas.

Biggest fail I've seen all day.

I loved that speech, it was inspirational and everything it should have been.


But I'm a downer (like alcohol!) and I do have one little wish. I wish he could have stayed away a little bit from the "we're Democrats" and McCain is fail bits. I mean I know that's what this speech is about etc., but with all his talks of bipartisanship and new politics, those things felt to me like missed notes even if I agreed with most/all of it.

Sadly Kes, since McCain's lot started launching the attack ads, Obama's been falling in the polls quite startlingly. I would have liked that too, but there's not a lot he can do about it if the other side won't do the same.

That business about not quesitoning patriotism was a canny move, thinking about it. After all, he'd never get away with questioning McCain's patriotism, and he can make himself look like he's taking the high ground when it was his only choice anyway. Hopefully it will protect him against ridiculous charges against his patriotism though.

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Originally Posted by Kes

But I'm a downer (like alcohol!) and I do have one little wish. I wish he could have stayed away a little bit from the "we're Democrats" and McCain is fail bits.

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He has to make himself look better. Either that happens in attacks, or that happens with impeccably high moral standards. Of course, Obama has been recently falling in the polls, and his numbers with "blue collar workers" was never strong in the first place. If he went with upstanding morality, he would not only lose the support of the constituency that does identify with him, he would further alienate others.

"This guy reminds me too much of the people that put me down. The way he talks, all those big words and promises that won't get through."

Combined with the inherent cynicism of the government that so strongly defines our generation, that's a big hurdle to jump.

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Originally Posted by Kes

I mean I know that's what this speech is about etc., but with all his talks of bipartisanship and new politics, those things felt to me like missed notes even if I agreed with most/all of it.

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Counters are, in fact, inevitable. But the way Obama did it was superbly done. Yes, he did attack McCain's record of voting, and charged him with wanting to pour more resources into a wild goose chase (Iraq as opposed to Afghanistan), he also elevated himself as the person who isn't the political candidate, but a man of the people, and showed in his way that McCain is not. You couldn't have done it in this way without the other; either way, I do not find this regrettable.

Or listen to MILF.

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Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF

Hopefully it will protect him against ridiculous charges against his patriotism though.

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It won't. Too many people associate patriotism with active warfare. Dissent is also a form of patriotism, and it's a real lost art.

EDIT: McCain's pick for VP. Hah. Hah. You just screwed your party. Romney is superior and a perfect compliment to what you lack.

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Originally Posted by Tavrobel

EDIT: McCain's pick for VP. Hah. Hah. You just screwed your party. Romney is superior and a perfect compliment to what you lack.

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Picking a woman seems like just a ploy to get Hillary voters. McCain seems more worried about votes then actually being a good candidate. :-/

It's a bad call. If he had made his announcement before Hillary's speech on Tuesday, things would have gone much better. I would have said it was a good call. But now, it sealed the deal on him; he's done. If he had secured a swing state (as my friend suggested), it would have been a great move. If he had went with Romney, he would have wiped the floor on Obama's economy plan, gotten someone who is a stronger pick overall with hardcore Republicans, and played the importance of region in elections. Arizona/Massachusetts? Hell, yeah. Okay, so maybe Romney is a Mormon, and most Christians think it's a cult, but he could've pulled off a Kennedy speech the way Obama did for black people not too long ago. Appeal to the common denominator; "what makes us Christians isn't multiple wives, it's all about Jesus." Something like that. An appeal to Jesus is an automatic hand-clapper.

For all of the inspiration that Obama could inspire, it would have said little to the ability of what is a virtually guaranteed economic fix. Yes, I am serious. That is the incredible potential and smartness of choosing Romney for VP. I would have voted Republican if that were the case, and McCain found a way to stop being a total suck-up to the hardcore Republicans. If anything, picking Romney would have given him more breathing room to be the "radical of the party."

But now, he's picked someone that who before Tuesday would have played a strong hand on capitalizing the dissenters from Hillary's boat who were going to vote for McCain. Too late. He's closed the door on Obama's inexperience, and showed his party as nothing but a bunch of pork-barrel legislators. Bridge to nowhere? Seriously, think about this for a minute. And they called this a triumph for the failures of Congress? So he played the woman card. Too late. As Yaridovich said, he's clearly out for the votes instead of looking good.

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Originally Posted by The Late Show

Top 10 Democratic National Convention Pickup Lines

10. "Wanna form a more perfect union?"
9. "Something's rising and it's not the national debt"
8. "I'm stiffer than John Kerry"
7. "Let's go someplace and release our delegates"
6. "Care to join the wife and me for a little 'bipartisanship'?"
5. "I'll make you scream like Howard Dean"
4. "Now that's what I call a stimulus package"
3. "I'm gonna Barack your world"
2. "Wanna pretend we're republicans and have gay bathroom sex?"
1. "Hi, I'm John Edwards"

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lol number 5.

Last night was amazing! I'm so . . . hopeful? Excited?

*fingers crossed*

Wow I know i'm a bit late, but I just wanted to comment about Obama's speech before the republicans have their talk. Obama through it down. He tore down Bush and McCain and spoke on how he plans to make this country better. I also liked that this time they had a lot of ordinary people speaking. I just wish they could've had a college or high school student speak up there as well. Sometimes I feel that politics pay minor attention to this group.

It's because the 18-21 group generally doesn't vote. No surprise.

I'm 18 and I'm going to vote.

Come back to me eight years ago and tell me that you're going to vote. You can still be 18. But chances are you weren't going to vote.

If you want a more involved answer (note that my previous answer was serious, and makes a generalization, stemming from the keyword "generally"), then you can have it. The 18-21 demographic is more or less snubbed by political sources due to the general feeling of indifference in people that age. This comes from a myriad of reasons, including emo, different priorities, rebelliousness (a wrongfully directed indignation, but whatever), a lack of perceived time, not caring, and general apathy for the workings of the Federal Government.

This election looks to be quite different, in which the youngest portion of the vote-capable demographic gives enough of a damn. Do be fairly informed that this is not the norm, and I'll expect people our ages to not care in four or eight years. The nigh intolerable workings of the current administration, combined with technological advances that make world awareness 100% easier, and stacked with the ever-rising cynicism of the Federal Government is the largest group of reasons for this election to consider people 18-21. If you look up the numbers ever since the age was lowered to 18, there is a very, very noticeable difference.

One person out of several million stating that "they'll vote," is not enough to shift the general consensus and numbers of politics. Just because you can die for your country doesn't always mean that you will; just because they let you vote at 18 doesn't necessarily mean that you will.

eight years ago if I was eighteen then, yeah I would have still voted, because the reason being is because I would have still had lived in a world where I was dissatisified with how things are going. I had a terrible relationship with school and what happened to me would have probably had happened in any time period. My mother's situation and my situation with classmates and teachers. Even at 10 I clearly remembered the campaign because the year 2000 is when I found purpose in life. I vowed to become an artist with the power to assuage the troubles of disadvantaged people in the world with my work and also with charity.
Most of these young people my age I have to say would want to take advantage of the power they possess.

If you had bothered to check the numbers for that age group from four and eight years ago, you would find that they actually wouldn't take advantage of that ability.

Thanks for actually reading my post and not responding in a knee-jerk answer that involves the "personal experience." If I wanted to I could tell you that all the people that I talk to also said that they would vote just to "take advantage of their abilities." This of course is untrue; the people I talk to are abstaining their votes on the basis that both candidates suck.