The setting invited comparisons to John Kennedy. The anniversary invited comparisons to Martin Luther King. The stage invited comparisons to Zeus.The remarks themselves invited comparisons to every Democratic stump speech of the last 20 years.
In substance, Barack Obama’s convention speech could easily have been given by Al Gore or John Kerry - and, in various forms, was given by Kerry and Gore. It was all in there: the lunchbox economic populism, based on the assumption that most Americans are filling their lunchboxes with scraps from dumpsters. The attacks on corporations, millionaires and other sinister job creators. The touching faith in the power of diplomacy.
By the last firework of the Democratic convention, Obama’s transformation was complete. He had systemically taken the advice of every cynical, hard-edged Democratic political consultant. Get rid of the airy, cerebral rhetoric. Pitch your message to the focus groups, not the historians. Go for the old man’s jugular...
In Denver, Obama “matured” into the spitting image of the typical Democrat...
As you can see, Michael Gerson of the Boston Herald, was one of the millions of Americans who were...say... "underwhelmed" by Barack Obama's convention speech. And Gerson's got a bit more to say right here.
