StefanClaypool.com

Expect a bump. It was, as always, well delivered, but the substance of the speech was ludicrous. Obama fundamentally does not understand the way this country works.

This is a man who thinks that unions are the manifestation of the American dream. This is a man who thinks that America’s greatest trait is that we are supposedly “our brother’s keeper.” And yet he feels that he is equipped to lecture us on individual responsibility? Obama’s entire political philosophy is based on the subjugation of individual responsibility to state responsibility.

Maybe some undecideds will be swayed. Maybe not. I don’t think that this will matter as much as the debates, when America will be forced to watch the two candidates side by side. We’ll see how people react then.

Over the next couple of days you can expect gushing from the media, but once again, I can’t think of a single line that will be remembered for more than a week.

I’ve got a hold of a full copy of the text. Here are a few excerpts.

***

“This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.”

Aren’t we all one illness away from disaster, regardless of age, financial security, and any other outside factors?

***

“We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.”

Obama is operating under the false assumption that it is the government’s responsibility to monitor and protect citizens financial situations, and never questions the reasons why people slide into poverty, nor does he ask them to take any responsibility in the situation.

***

“It’s a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.”

Obama fundamentally doesn’t understand the way businesses work. He just assumes that they are all run by deceivers.

***

“Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I’ve laid out how I’ll pay for every dime – by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don’t help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less – because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.”

Obama’s own advisers have already said that he can’t pull this off without raising taxes on the middle class – something he’s pledged not to do.

***

“The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America – they have served the United States of America.

So I’ve got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.”

First part is nice, but just recycles what he said four years ago. The second is whiny and defensive, something that a high school student would say if he was trying to get testy with a rival – if this were the 1950s.

***

Does not mention MLK by name, but CLOSES HIS SPEECH WITH HIS WORDS! “We cannot walk alone [...] And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.”

***

He’ll deliver it well, and the media will eat it up. He’s more negative than I thought. He plays the class warfare card repeatedly. And there is no memorable line, no one things that sums up the speech. There is no “New Frontier,” no “Rendezvous with Destiny,” nothing. The content of this speech will be forgotten by Monday.

Obama’s greatest enemy tonight is his own ego. By making the speech on the forty-fifth anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, he is inviting the comparison. There’s no way he’ll let the evening pass without mentioning that he is the culmination of Dr. King’s speech. This might strike some viewers as presumptuous; at any rate, it won’t help with the growing perception that Obama’s candidacy is less about his positions and more about him.

Expect soaring rhetoric and vague policy. After scanning some excerpts that the campaign released ahead of time, I noticed that Obama now says he supports cutting capital gains taxes for some businesses. That’s a bit of a change from earlier this spring, when Charlie Gibson school him on the subject during the final debate of the Democratic primaries. Don’t be shocked if more contradictions like this pop up – after all that’s what happens when you try to be all things to all people.

Also expect him to try to maintain a positive tone. Remember, in his mind this is all about him, and I think he’s more likely to talk himself up than talk McCain down. That’s not because he’s got any aspirations to maintain a positive tone in the campaign; it’s just because he won’t even be thinking of McCain, as he’ll be too busy basking in the adoration of his screaming fans.

Lastly, expect a speech that makes people feel good for about two days and then fades from all memory. It’ll be Berlin or the Philadelphia Race speech all over again; people will fall all over themselves praising it, but when it’s all said and done, there won’t be one line that people remember unless they’re mocking it.

BRILLIANT. One of the best political ads I’ve ever seen. The only problem is that it’s a little long for television. Maybe cut out the Chris Dodd bits, and then start airing it everywhere!