Barack Obama’s speech a rarity in politics
Whatever you thought of Barack Obama before his Philadelphia speech on race, you’ve probably changed your mind at least somewhat.
I’ve interviewed a lot of politicians, from county commissioners to senators, from township clerks to governors. I’ve heard a lot of speeches.
One of the rarest commodities - even among the very best public servants - is courage.
I don’t mean the courage to sling mud at your opponents, or to lambast the media. There’s lots of that kind of courage in politics.
I mean the courage to really say what you believe, even if it’s not popular. The courage to take a stand on a tough issue that people really don’t want to talk about, even if it means alienating voters on both sides.
Obama’s speech was elegantly written and delivered. That’s what we would expect. That’s what got him this far.
What was unexpected was the candor, the honesty, the willingness to say things that both radical blacks and middle class whites didn’t want to hear. There still is racism in this country. But it’s an amazing country that has made incredible progress in civil rights, and that can make even more progress if we work harder at it. Both points are true.
Obama undoubtedly lost votes at both extremes. But he made me sit up and take notice, and apparently I’m not alone.
Most political candidates, when facing election or re-election, try to figure out what voters want to hear - they go to great lengths and expense to get it right - then feed it back to them.
Telling what they don’t want to hear is very rare.
My wife and I watched the speech together, on YouTube. As it ended, she said, “What’s the big deal. He just said the truth.”
Sometimes she can be so exasperating. She was right.
But it is a big deal. He said the truth, on an issue where few Americans want to hear the truth.
March 20th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
The only thing the speech proved to me was that he is not the “agent of change” he professed to be. Earlier he claimed that he had never sat through a sermon where the Rev. Wright had gone off on one of his racial tangents. In one sentence he admitted that he had. Sounds like business as usual. I was dissappointed, not surprised, but dissappointed.
Guess I have one more question, or maybe more of a statement. Why in this day and age, does one have courage for telling the truth, doesn’t one have the duty to do so in the first place? Why do we celebrate the truth, have we come to expect so little from an elected official that we look in awe upon them when they do? Finally, why so often does the truth come out only after the fact, when they have no other alternative to save their political career or face? He got caught, and then told the truth, there is a big difference, but so few these days make the distinction.
I find that sad in modern American cultural trends. I think people should feel outraged, no matter what the circumstance, the canidate, or the party. Maybe if there was a little more backlash these elected officials would start towing the line, and take a hard look at their own professional and personal choices. Maybe then they wouldnt let their children be baptized by a pastor who theatrically make believes he slapping and riding an intern. Its not a race thing, its a moral thing, just the right thing to do. The “Agent of Change” is no such thing, just business as usual.