Did Obama make your grade?

Just curious what folks here thought of Obama's speech.

I have to preface my thoughts with the fact that Obama's style doesn't really work with me. I've heard it too many times, and I'm not a big fan of preaching as a form of political oratory.

However, that said, the latter portions of Obama's speech were extremely well written and may have been the best-performed of Obama's career, or at least since the 2004 convention. I'm sure his admirers would rate the speech an A plus, and rightly so.

However, since I'm more of a Libertarian-leaning independent and a moderate, I'd be a little harder on it. Still a good piece of work, but I'd give it a B-plus.

My beefs: I recognize that the GOP was knocking him as a do-nothing president so he had to tout his achievements, but that portion dragged on and even contained some whoppers. The one that REALLY jumped out at me: Obama actually said that the cost of a college education had gone down! Really? OK, I know he was talking about Pell Grants, but the cost of a college ed has maybe only gone down for the students who get those. I doubt there's a single college/university in the country that costs less than it did 4 years ago. In fact, higher education costs have skyrocketed more than maybe anything but healthcare in the past decade. I will go further and say that the skyrocketing cost of higher education maybe more than any one factor is a major threat to the American dream.

Speaking of which: Could we just call a moratorium and accept that *ALL* politicians believe in the American dream? The Republicians did little but pitch it, and the Democrats couldn't be outdone. Good grief!!!!

On the plus side, as far as I can tell, Obama was the only major speaker of either party to dare utter the *gay* word. Big thanks for that. I have to give credit where credit is due. For a president who started really slow on gay issues, Obama has come a very long way in a relatively short period of time.
By BearinFW | 09/07/2012 05:39 AM | 5 comments
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  • Expecting to get "content" from either the RNC or the DNC is like hoping my urine stream doesn't fly up and hit me in the face while taking a piss in a heavy wind. Just isn't going to happen.

    I refuse to base my decision on who to vote for based on a media event such as a national convention. These are overly-costly and largely ill-served events. Our political process is waaaaaaay too long to being with.

    For content I will go out of my way to read a range of magazine accounts and articles and do a lot of self-study. I have come to the conclusion that it is foolish to expect more than a poorly designed political process can deliver - including these national conventions. It is the duty of a citizen to inform him/herself about the issues. Expecting more than can be delivered from any single candidater or any party convention is just plain silly...

    FWIIW
    everysooften 09/07/2012 05:31 PM
  • It's like a kid who comes into a room, throws all the toys around and then leaves it for someone else to clean up. You CAN NOT expect it to happen over night. It's impossible. And another thing President Clinton said, it seems like the republicans aren't just anti-democrat, it seems like they are anti-Obama. Living in Chicago, I had the privilage to work on the Obama election 3 and a half years ago and have met the man in person and the man you see is genuine. There is nothing fake or even political about him. He does not walk around with an attitude. In fact, he is a very "feely" person. When he meets you it is not just a hand shake and walk on. You get a hand shake and a sholder pat or a hug. This is a real person. Not someone out there for the benifit of a photo opp or sound bite. The day he came into the office I was working in, someone did their homework on each and every person in there and he knew, at least, one little thing about you and made sure he made mention of spouses, children, etc. I just love the man. And his wife!!!! Man that is one hell of a woman.
    kelleysiland 09/07/2012 08:34 AM
  • Bill put it very well: "They made a hell of a mess and are upset that Obama has not cleaned it up quickly enough"! How anyone that takes the time to fact check any of this can vote for anyone other than Obama is fooling themselves. You want another war vote Mitt? You want to work for nothing vote Mitt? You want intolerance for anyone other than the privileged and wealthy vote Mitt. You want deregulation vote Mitt. I would love to hear the arguments for Mitt and why there is so much animosity towards Obama? We have seen this all before. Depression 1929 caused by little Wall Street regulations ask the Dems to clean it up. Recession and more Wall Street problems in the 90's ask the Dems to clean it up. Start two wars and crash the economy ask the Dems to clean it up. Then sit back and not help but bitch because they did not clean it up fast enough.
    barney290 09/07/2012 08:12 AM
  • you cannot please all the people all the time, but you can please some of the people some of the time. he is at least making the effort to correct the situation .. bush took eight years to do a job on the economy. give him the time to correct it. he has made a good start.
    buttdart 09/07/2012 07:49 AM
  • i was imprssed. i have my problems with obama's tenure but i'm on his side. his speech said everything i wanted to hear about the direction he wants to see the country go in. AND, he made a commitment to get us out of afghanistan by 2014. he talked about rights, progress and the future...i'm ready to vote.

    one of the things i REALLY liked about the convention was the diversity of the audience. what an inspiring portrait of america.

    and i was totally knocked out by joe biden's speech. who knew he is such a dynamic speaker! biden in 2016!!!
    rae121452 09/07/2012 05:53 AM