The Speech

Been tied up most of the day, but here's what I got (as sent in an e-mail to a buddy)

I went downstairs and watched it live.

My initial reaction was that it was a deep, well-thought out, very solid speech. Unfortunately, however, to truly appreciate that speech, and understand the message, you had to be a fairly enlightened, intelligent and reasonable person, and almost all of those folks are already in Obama's corner, so ultimately I don't think it really did him any good. (Sad, but true. And it probably damaged him because he did the honorable thing and did not toss Wright under the bus.)

I thought his efforts to capture the working class white man's resentment was masterfully done, but immediately thought there would be those coming with the "wtf does this darkie think he's doing speaking for us?"

Then, to make matters worse, one of the big dogs -- who has never spoken to me in my life -- comes up and asks me what I thought of the speech. I made him show his hand first, and he completely missed the point, so I just essentially looked, let him talk and moved on without saying much. (I love how all of a sudden my opinion matters. Why is that? I honestly do not understand.)

I also thought the "product of his generation" was right on point. However, that angry guy in black barbershop stuff, as true as it may be, simply does not resonate with people who have never been, and never will be, in one in their life.

Also, minor point, but still, why use the word "hues"? Nobody knows what you are talking about. "Shades," "skin colors," even "pigment" for that matter. But please use language everyone can understand.

Nothing earth shattering, I know. And I have tons more thoughts. But this is what initially hit me and I did feel like putting it out there. So there, it's out there.

Comments

[Assman]

And Jackie, if you are not judged by your actions, then what???

To this point, I've been judging all the candidates by their actions. To a degree, you look at their past experience. To a degree, you look at their debate performances. You look at how they manage their campaigns. You look at how they respond to adversity.

I mean, I don't have a 24 hour webcam on them, but from what I've seen, Clinton has acted like someone who does whatever has to be done to get power, ethical or not. McCain, while he seems to have good qualities, cannot stop trumpeting a war that I do not believe is serving any purpose. Obama, of the three, seems to have the most ethical track record, transparency and working ideas. He's not perfect or remotely close, but the guy is head and shoulders above his contemporaries. In my opinion.

Therefore I don't take issue with your statement, but it was still a reason that people were drawn to his candidacy.

With that clarification, yes, I agree completely. The folks that are in it to buy racial parity with their votes just had a rough week. The cynic in me says their plan was flawed from the start.

But, no, his campaign was never making that claim. They stress a change in government tactics, partisan behavior, ethics in dealing with special interests, etc. If Obama turns out to be doing favors for the oil industry, then they'll have to change their tune.

[Dingo]

Also, I know Obama doesn't need it because he already knows about the "typical white person", but here's a website with stuff white people like. He can use it as a handy cheat sheet later on just in case.