POWER MODE. The Campaign for America's Future will be posting the 2008 Democratic presidential candidate speeches online later today. Like Addie, I'd particularly recommend Barack Obama's to those who have been worried that he has been playing things a little too cool of late, or been chastened by inside-the-Beltway campaign consultants into adopting too cerebral and dispassionate a pose. He was anything but that this afternoon. Indeed, watching him at the TBA conference, I started to wonder if perhaps the best way to understand his campaign style is by reference to energy-efficient appliances, which spend a few moments a day in masterful and electric action, and the rest of the time whir along in quiet stand-by mode. Not every stump appearance can be the best one of a candidate's career, but this was a speech that truly mattered, and Obama knocked it out of the park. I suspect we're going to see a lot more of that as the campaign progresses. He'll be low-key on a day-to-day basis, and just when people start to wonder if he's changed, turn on that big Obama grin and electrify the crowd. By conserving his energy he may well also escape that curse of challenger-candidates everywhere, peaking too early. Today he had the audience hopping to its feet from his rock-star entry to the thunderous applause that met the close of his remarks. Tomorrow, he may well be back to his quieter workaday style.
tba2007--Garance Franke-Ruta
