Monday, October 13, 2008
Presidential
I just read Obama's speech on the economy. In my mind, it ranks up there with his 2004 convention address and his speech on race from earlier this year. It also fills a void. Barack not only offered specific policy proposals (and a few attacks against McCain), but reassurance that we can pull together and right the ship. While McCain keeps talking about Ayers and Palin tells us with a straight face that McCain will end "abuses of power," Obama just gave the speech that the president should have given weeks ago.
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4 comments:
Absolutely agree Dave. What a brilliant mix of concrete policies and uplifting rhetoric.
I expect him to cut-n-paste huge chunks of this into his debate answers (Gov. Hockey Mom has already made it clear that a debate participant can ignore questions and say whatever they want).
One part had me especially excited at first, "Today I’m proposing a ... plan that begins with one word that’s on everyone’s mind, and it’s spelled J-O-B-S."
For a minute I thought we were all getting hired by Apple, and I was all like, "sweet! I'm gettin' me an iBook and an iPhone and some iPants!"
i like it too. sounds like he's pulled together threads from a few of his other great speeches. that's one of the things i really admire about him. he actually seems to believe what he says so you find the same themes throughout his career.
however, the washington policy wonk in me would like more specifics on how the hell we're going to pay for all of this. and also a little more focus on the working poor (not just the middle class) who have already been kicked out of their homes, and more specifics on exactly which priorities will get dropped/sacrificed to pull this off. i don't think that's too much to ask, and i know it's probably not gonna happen. but still, it's easy to have a laundry list of programs to address the mess we're in, it's harder to come up with a plan to pay for them.
That's it, no iPants for Ilsa.
Wait, did that sound inappropriate?
I think Obama will and won't plan to pay for it. Seriously. The deficit sucks, but as a % of GNP the deficit is less of a problem than it was 15 years ago (ok, I know I read that somewhere, but am too lazy to cite a source....oh Seana, lil help?). So, if it takes expanding the deficit a smoosh to get $$ flowing again, it's not such a horrible price to pay. But, I'm probably wrong about all of this.
Ok, off to sign up for my 17th credit card. As I understand it, when you use plastic you don't actually have to pay for anything! USA! USA!
Maybe it's the cynic in me, but I never really look all that hard at policy proposals, with the assumption that they won't ever exist in their stated form. I paid closer attention to three things: 1) he's done his homework and has come up with those nebulous policy proposals; 2) he talked about the responsibilities of government and the people in this crisis; and 3) he offered reassurance.
Sure, all his rhetoric may be too idealistic. But, that sense of reassurance is important. W has been doing more harm than good by scaring the snot out of the few people who actually tune in to his speeches. Obama on the other hand gave this one, which, if you removed the digs against McCain, could easily be mistaken for one of FDR's fireside chats. To me, that's what made it presidential.
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