Apologies for the slow blogging today. Reporting is hard work, as the president might say. At the very least, it keeps you away from the computer. Spent the morning at an Obama rally in Concord. It was the first time in awhile that I've seen his stump speech, and it's much improved since my last exposure. There are long passages devoted to the sorts of criticisms I and others have made of his theories of change, and he now speaks much more concretely of a Mark Schmitt like approach: Occupying the moral high ground of unity and constructive outreach, converting individuals open to persuasion, and using those advantages to battle interests intent on protecting their privilege. The insurance, pharmaceutical, and oil industries get called out by name, as groups who Obama is aware will "protect their profits." He argues, explicitly, that we need to expand our public numbers to overwhelm such private intransigence. For those skeptical of the rhetoric of unity, it's a much more confidence inspiring stump. There's also a cute riff that goes something like, "they say, Obama, you're not ready to lead. You need more seasoning. Stewing. We need to boil the hope out of you. Then you'll be like us. And you'll be ready." The idea of Obama spending 40 minutes in a boiling pot and coming out looking like Mitch McConnell was, at least to me, fairly amusing. The beginning of his speech also shed some light on the results in Iowa. Obama begins by inviting two of his young, GOTV volunteers onto the podium. He talks about what it was like to be a volunteer and community organizer, to work long days for little pay, to be hungrier for inspiration than compensation. He talks, in other words, about what it's like to be young and in the political process. And he transitions that very smoothly into an explanation of how to vote for him, who to talk to, what cards to sign for the campaign, etc. It's a one-two punch that goes far in explaining why he amped up turnout among the young. His speeches begin by affirming them, then instructing them. It's very smart -- the sort of thing that's unsurprising coming from a community organizer, but that you rarely see in politicians. RALLYING FOR OBAMA.
Apologies for the slow blogging today. Reporting is hard work, as the president might say. At the very least, it keeps you away from the computer. Spent the morning at an Obama rally in Concord. It was the first time in awhile that I've seen his stump speech, and it's much improved since my last exposure. There are long passages devoted to the sorts of criticisms I and others have made of his theories of change, and he now speaks much more concretely of a Mark Schmitt like approach: Occupying the moral high ground of unity and constructive outreach, converting individuals open to persuasion, and using those advantages to battle interests intent on protecting their privilege. The insurance, pharmaceutical, and oil industries get called out by name, as groups who Obama is aware will "protect their profits." He argues, explicitly, that we need to expand our public numbers to overwhelm such private intransigence. For those skeptical of the rhetoric of unity, it's a much more confidence inspiring stump. There's also a cute riff that goes something like, "they say, Obama, you're not ready to lead. You need more seasoning. Stewing. We need to boil the hope out of you. Then you'll be like us. And you'll be ready." The idea of Obama spending 40 minutes in a boiling pot and coming out looking like Mitch McConnell was, at least to me, fairly amusing. The beginning of his speech also shed some light on the results in Iowa. Obama begins by inviting two of his young, GOTV volunteers onto the podium. He talks about what it was like to be a volunteer and community organizer, to work long days for little pay, to be hungrier for inspiration than compensation. He talks, in other words, about what it's like to be young and in the political process. And he transitions that very smoothly into an explanation of how to vote for him, who to talk to, what cards to sign for the campaign, etc. It's a one-two punch that goes far in explaining why he amped up turnout among the young. His speeches begin by affirming them, then instructing them. It's very smart -- the sort of thing that's unsurprising coming from a community organizer, but that you rarely see in politicians. 
