PLANK SEPTEMBER 7, 2012
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CHARLOTTE—The best way to think of Obama’s convention speech is as the conclusion of a four-part argument that began on Tuesday. Michelle Obama made the case for her husband as a character—as a man of virtue and somebody who understands, intuitively, how the average American feels. Bill Clinton focused on substance: What Obama had accomplished in the last four years, and what his opponents were threatening to accomplish in the next. Joe Biden’s purpose, as I noted earlier, was to vouch for Obama as a leader—to show how two key episodes in Obama’s presidency, rescuing the auto industry and dispatching Bin Laden, revealed the president’s inner mettle.
That left just one task for Obama himself: To talk about the future. It’s more or less what he had to do in each of his last two conventions speeches—the keynote address in 2004 and the acceptance speech in 2008. I'm sure I'm not the only one who found it a lot less inspiring than either one of those.
But inspiration on Thursday night would have been difficult. In 2004, Obama could indulge in lofty rhetoric because he wasn’t running for president. In 2008, he had to sketch out an agenda, but he could do so as somebody who’d never had to implement one. If Obama had tried that this time, he ran the very real risk that people would dismiss it as making promises he could not possibly keep.
Instead, Obama defended his record and reminded voters of what he still hoped to accomplish. And he did so obliquely. A million new jobs, a doubling of exports, recruiting 100,000 math and science teachers, reducing the deficit by more than $4 trillion over the next decade—these were references to existing proposals for taxes, energy, education, and fiscal balance. He didn’t refer to any of these proposals by name and, as far as I can tell, he didn’t talk about the elements of his jobs plan. He made reference to the most important accomplishment of his first term, health care reform, only by implication.
Obama also reminded voters of the choice they faced in this election. And here he was a lot more direct. At one point early in the speech, he mocked the Republicans for their lack of an economic agenda: “Now, our friends at the Republican convention were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with America, but they didn’t have much to say about how they’d make it right.”
Later, Obama highlighted the impact of the Romney and Ryan budget proposals, arguing that he would protect the middle class while the Republicans would make the middle class more vulernable: “I refuse to ask students to pay more for college; or kick children out of Head Start programs, or eliminate health insurance for millions of Americans who are poor, elderly, or disabled—all so those with the most can pay less.” He was particularly vivid about Medicare, “I will never turn Medicare into a voucher. …Yes, we will reform and strengthen Medicare for the long haul, but we’ll do it by reducing the cost of health care—not by asking seniors to pay thousands of dollars more.”
It was only here, near the end of the speech, that Obama started talking in loftier terms. And, superficially, he was making the same argument he made in 2004 and 2008—about the importance of bringing Americans together, even as his political adversaries were trying to push Americans apart.
But in 2004 and 2008, Obama was effectively making a case for bipartisanship—for overcoming the acrimony between Democrats and Republicans. This time, Obama was effectively making a case for social solidarity—the idea that everybody can benefit from programs that provide education or health insurance, and that everybody has an obligation to support them. And he was reminding voters that one party, the Republicans, don’t believe those things.
Of course, even the rhetoric in this part of the speech lacked the magical quality of his past efforts. But maybe that’s OK. The focus of Obama's second term isn't going to be accomplishing great new things. It will be finishing the work of the first term, and protecting Americans from the Republican agenda. That's not inspiring. But it's awfully important.
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24 comments
Not inspiring? More than enough for me. The Republican barbarians are at the gates. Merely holding those gates shut is plenty of inspiration.
- roidubouloi
September 7, 2012 at 1:48am
The speech was nothing more than a laundry list of things that would be great to do if money were no object. It was 2008 with tamped down expectations. Reducing the deficit by $4T over 10 years? Is this a joke? He ran up almost $6T in debt in 4 years. In 2008 he told us he'd cut in half the massive deficit. And he promised to do it "honestly and candidly". Assertions that they saved the US auto industry? Hardly. They spent $30 to $50B of taxpayer money to put a dying company on life support. The company wasn't competitive then, it isn't competitive now. The trajectory is clear. "I refuse to ask students to pay more for college...." And so, what? You will ask colleges to reduce the cost? Sounds great. Must be nice to have everyone cheering. But a family friend just finished a degree in chemistry, is $85K in debt, and his first job out of college is $13/hour + benefits. Chances are very small he will pay the $85K back. Which means tax payers just paid for his education. Doing a job we don't need. Making it easier for more to the do the same is pumping up yet another bubble. Inconsistencies abound. And as usual, nary a dose of reality. I know, numbers are scary. Remember, in 2007 after all the tax cuts and all the war spending...we were only $150B/year short. Within spitting distance of being balanced. Or looked at another way, take out the war ($100B a year) and taxes on the rich ($70B a year) and poof...Bush was balanced in 2007. These days, if we're $1.2T short, everyone is cheering. My god. In just 4 years. JC writes: "It will be finishing the work of the first term, and protecting Americans from the Republican agenda. " Yes, because being middle class in 2005 sucked compared to today. You had more money in your pocket, and we had a much smaller deficit, much smaller debt. You were more likely to be employed....it's was just awful, wasn't it? Of course, a gal did have to pony up $10/month for birth control pills....So I guess I do see your point.
- seattleeng
September 7, 2012 at 2:14am
Krauthammer nails it...this was vision. His base, however, those that FEEL, lap this stuff up. No disease and private airplanes sounds pretty sweet indeed. Krauthammer says: "At least Romney had a five point plan. What we heard from Obama was a vision. And he pulls numbers out of a hat. 100,000 new math and science teachers. 600,000 more people working in natural gas. Two million more trainees, and he doesn't say how we get from A to B. It's a vision. I have a vision of an America where there is no disease and everybody has a private airplane, but unless I tell you how we get there, I’ve said nothing. And what is so surprising, is that - all he had left - he can't speak about his record on the economy, and it's not a good one. As we heard, he didn't speak about achievements, the one that's liberals like, ObamaCare, stimulus and etc… they're unpopular. "
- seattleeng
September 7, 2012 at 2:21am
How to get there? Why, cut taxes of course. Cutting taxes reduces the deficit. Creates jobs. Educates the young. Makes health care accessible. And, of course, defeats disease and gives everyone a private airplane. It is a matter of fact that the debts we have run up are due to the Bush tax cuts, the Bush unfunded wars, the Bush unfunded medical benefits, and the Bush recession. Nothing more. You are therefore the last person on earth who ought to be complaining about a lack of reality, seattle. At the very least, Obama wants to go somewhere worthy. The only aspiration of you and the Republican party is to destroy this country for no better reason than to further enrich the wealthiest. Go away.
- roidubouloi
September 7, 2012 at 2:26am
"Yes, because being middle class in 2005 sucked compared to today. You had more money in your pocket, and we had a much smaller deficit, much smaller debt. You were more likely to be employed....it's was just awful, wasn't it?" Earth to seattle! Earth to seattle! What planet have you been living on? By cutting taxes drastically, while starting two multi-trillion-dollar wars, Bush drove the future deficit to staggering heights. Did you ever think about the cost of rehabilitation for all of the American soldiers who went to Iraq and Afghanistan? Did you ever think about the skyrocketing cost of the drugs for Medicare Part D that Bush installed to get senior votes in 2004? Did you know that some drug companies are bribing other drug manufacturers to delay bringing out generic versions of their drugs? How's that for free enterprise that sticks it to the taxpayers funding Medicare? Of course, Paul Ryan took care of part of the budgetary problem of caring for war veterans. In his budget plan, he takes $11 billion from the VA in the first year! Ain't that just like Republicans? The party of draft dodgers stealing from veterans, so rich people can get more tax breaks! And those frauds pretend they are the party of patriots. They're the party of slime.
- magboy47.
September 7, 2012 at 2:37am
Obama's speech was on my TV while I was reading. It was boring, same ol', same ol'. No detailed economic recovery plan like I wanted to see. But by saying, "I'm the president," he did make it clear that Romney is and always will be a pretender. I looked up from my book when the president said that. Biden made a much better speech. He connected with the average voter. I have relatives in Scranton, where he was born. I visited there twice when I was a kid. I met a lot of average, nice people there. How could the speeches of two cold fish like Romney and Ryan compete with that of somebody like Biden? He's a people guy, someone who can connect with any person in the world. When he takes the train to D.C. every day, he acknowledges all the working people along the way by name. Can you even imagine Romney or Ryan doing that? Jennifer Granholm gave a great speech, too. She was really fired up, just the opposite of the way she acts on her Current TV show. Loved her. She would make a great president, but she was born in Canada. Hillary would make a good president, but she's hated more than her husband is by the Right wingnuts. So I think Debbie Wasserman-Schultz should be the first woman U.S. president. She's tough and nice and smart, all at the same time. Wasserman-Schultz in 2016!
- magboy47.
September 7, 2012 at 2:58am
seattle, what the hell does 2007 have to do with anything? It was based on a lie, a housing bubble artificially inflated. Bush handed the keys to a burning house to Obama and you are saying, hey, even though Bush was pouring gasoline around the house in 2007 the house wasn't yet burning so lets take that as an example. Why don't you do the honest thing and judge Obama from the point the stimulus and his budget began to take effect? Or was the mere presence of Obama supposed to have magically stopped the recession on day one? I ask you, exactly what loopholes will Romney close so he can push through his upper class tax cuts? Exactly what domestic spending programs will he shut down so he can refund the 716 billion in Medicare savings and the trillions more in defense? And Obama did not pull numbers out of a hat. Try reading the data sometime. Natural gas production is at an all time high and will increase as more and more fields are opened up, or are you going to pretend romney will solve the energy crisis by using his magic underwear?
- blackton
September 7, 2012 at 8:18am
Maybe it's just me, but I found plenty of poetry in the final section of the speech, beginning with "Because we understand that this democracy is ours." http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/06/us/politics/president-obamas-prepared-remarks-from-the-democratic-national-convention.html?pagewanted=all I'm second to none in my cynical and skeptical attitude toward political rhetoric and those who peddle it, but if "Yes, our path is harder – but it leads to a better place. Yes our road is longer – but we travel it together. We don’t turn back. We leave no one behind. We pull each other up" doesn't make you proud to be a Democrat, you don't know what words mean.
- austinexpat
September 7, 2012 at 10:00am
"take out the war ($100B a year) and taxes on the rich ($70B a year) and poof...Bush was balanced in 2007." Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
- miceelf
September 7, 2012 at 10:17am
I agree with austin and not with Cohn--Obama's speech to me was very effective and even lofty at times--I was more inspired by this speech than either of his earlier convention speeches, which I thought were more hollow. Obama nicely recaptured the concepts of hope and change by investing them in the struggling people, not himself. He sharply articulated the choice facing people between himself and Romney (he directly belittled Romney--the line about diplomacy in Beijing was perfectly articulated). He set up the terms of the debate in such a way that he'll be able to lower the boom in the debates--both attacking Romney using these themes and unpacking his own proposals that he put a frame around in this speech. My only wish is that he had also spent time attacking Congressional Republicans for doing nothing. Obama does have a Jobs Act he could still be touting. If there's ever an easy scapegoat, it's not Bush, it's Congress.
- polcereal
September 7, 2012 at 10:38am
I found it moving also, especially his quote from Lincoln about being brought to his knees, and the summoning of a communal spirit at the end (coupled with his change in tone, when he sounded more like a preacher, urging on his flock). To me, that recurring theme of being part of a community, was an important part of the convention speeches. It really does lay out a different vision of what we think the country is and should be, compared to the Randian world that Romney and Ryan are peddling. It actually should be a vision that many conservatives would find appealing, in the appeal to common bonds and family. And being pro-community doesn't have to be anti-business, as the former Costco exec could attest. Costco closes on major holidays so their employees can be with their families and they are not open late on weekends. It's almost quaint in this day and age (and sometimes annoying to me as a customer) but shows a respect for their employees that is admirable.)
- shellski
September 7, 2012 at 11:32am
It was a good speech and well delivered. He outlined what was to be done, but did not go into a lot of detail which would have been deadly. No matter how one feels about Mr. Obama; no matter how insufficient his program his; remember the alternative!
- johnkuhlman
September 7, 2012 at 11:38am
Magboy writes: " Bush drove the future deficit to staggering heights" Staggering? It was $150B in 2007. Obama is running almost 10X that. You'd be correct in saying Obama's defecit was staggering. And remember, Obama promised to cut this in half. Hah. Laughable. You promise to cut it in half, and instead you grow it by 10. Not even close. What is clear is the man's promises have ZERO bearing on reality. They are just words he strings together. And the dem masses lap them up.
- seattleeng
September 7, 2012 at 11:52am
Watch this vid of Obama from 2008 to realize just how tiresome this has become. The video is Obama criticizing Palin for calling Obama's plan a "job killer" This is where Obama really excelled: In front of a crowd, telling people why the other wide was screwing things up. And seeming credible about it. Unfortunately, there comes a point when you must execute. And my oh my, it looks like Palin was right. Again. Obama's plan WOULD be a job killer. Our workforce participation rate for men this month is 69.9%, the lowest ever since they began tracking this in 1949. If the labor force participation rate were where it was when Obama took office, then the real unemployment figure would be 11.4% This is as dismal as dismal gets. www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsLwUoG2Ds0&feature=player_embedded#! donteatthelinkdonteatthelinkdonteatthelinkdonteatthelinkdonteatthelinkdonteatthelinkdonteatthelink
- seattleeng
September 7, 2012 at 12:46pm
Seattleeng, did Bush's presidency end in 2007?
- miceelf
September 7, 2012 at 12:46pm
seattle, I was talking about future deficits--the future cost of rehab for war veterans. I made that clear. It could easily reach a trillion dollars. And the future cost of drugs for seniors on Medicare Part D, with the drug companies gouging the taxpayers, could be much more. You're a master of changing the subject and ignoring what people say, seattle. Did you forget that Bush was the first to push through a stimulus bill? Remember that one--the tax refunds, just as he was leaving office (thank God)? And oh, there was the massive TARP under Bush, too. It was approved by Paul Ryan and signed by Bush. Chump change, right? I'm with blackton. Whatever on earth has 2007 got to do with the disastrous collapse since then? Are you telling us that Bush's presidency ended in 2007? Were it only so! If only it had ended before it began! America wouldn't be in the mess it is now.
- magboy47.
September 7, 2012 at 12:52pm
"Seattleeng, did Bush's presidency end in 2007?" "Are you telling us that Bush's presidency ended in 2007?" miceelf, Great minds think alike. I didn't see your comment before I posted mine.
- magboy47.
September 7, 2012 at 12:56pm
seattle, pimping for Krauthammer? That man disgusts me if only because of his comments about women. But also, this bull**** about the poor privileged rich white male Republicans, who simply cannot afford to pay their taxes - I have had enough. Enough. It is condescending and it's beyond unrealistic. How about joining the Union? Seriously. You guys don't seem to be a part of the country I see around me every day, which looked an awful lot like the people standing shoulder to shoulder in that convention hall. In fact, you seem to absolutely detest us. I'm tired of you talking down to us and declaring that we are toast except for Great White Bwanna who is going to do EXACTLY what you've been doing to us since Reagan The Awful, which is bankrupting this country and starting wars and environmental devastation around the world. Then you have the balls to tell us we're richer than Somalia. Give us a break.
- Sophia
September 7, 2012 at 1:01pm
BTW, seattle, When Bush and the Republicans rammed through Medicare Part D in the wee hours of the morning in December of 2003, so Bush could get more senior votes in 2004, they made sure that the government wouldn't be allowed to negotiate with the drug companies over drug prices, like they do at the VA. In other words the GOP wanted the drug companies to stick sick seniors and the taxpayers for all that traffic would bear. And traffic is bearing a staggering amount to this day, seattle. I told you about the bribes that drug companies are getting from other drug companies to delay the marketing of generics. Just another way that Bush and the Republicans cut the deficit!
- magboy47.
September 7, 2012 at 1:08pm
"How about joining the Union?" Them's fightin' words when you're you're talking to a Republican, Sophia. Seattle will ignore your use of the word (these United States) and start ranting about how unions, which comprise 7% of the workforce, are the reason that America is in such a mess economically. Yes, seattle is good at ignoring.
- magboy47.
September 7, 2012 at 1:15pm
More than anything, Obama managed to portray gravitas and humility yesterday, even when he said "I am the president." I don't know what it is, but hearing him speak makes me sad these days - not because I like him any less, or have less confidence in him, but because of what's been done to a good man.
- austinous
September 7, 2012 at 3:22pm
Magboy et al write: "Seattleeng, did Bush's presidency end in 2007?"" No, but 2008 spending was extraordinary due to the housing crises. Magboy writes: "Seattle will ignore your use of the word (these United States) and start ranting about how unions, which comprise 7% of the workforce, are the reason that America is in such a mess economically." No, unions aren't our problem. They are GM's problem, but they aren't the US's problem. Sophia writes: "But also, this bull**** about the poor privileged rich white male Republicans, who simply cannot afford to pay their taxes - I have had enough. Enough. It is condescending and it's beyond unrealistic." What? I'm the guy that says the middle class are undertaxed relative to their EU counterparts.
- seattleeng
September 8, 2012 at 12:48pm
The top 10% now have 50% of GDP, up from 33% in 1980 when libertarian anti-tax mania first seized the country. The top 10% is now woefully under taxed. That is the totality of our fiscal problem.
- roidubouloi
September 8, 2012 at 4:27pm
Bush inherited a booming economy and handed over an economy in free-fall, a fall arrested by the too small stimulus, half of which was wasted on even more tax cuts rather than direct spending or aid to states to sustain their spending. Libertarian pseudo economics is garbage, quite on a par with creationism. There is no evidence for any of its claims and mountains of evidence to the contrary.
- roidubouloi
September 8, 2012 at 4:32pm