Convention Analyses
Barack is JFK with Fireworks and Confetti
By Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse
August 2008

Barack Obama is supposed to have modeled his convention acceptance speech after the memorable 1960 speech by John F. Kennedy — except that Barack added an audience of 85,000 cheering, flag-waving Americans, spotlighted a slew of celebrity entertainers, threw in a spectacular columned stage setting in a massive sports arena, and topped it all with an incredible 40 minutes of fireworks, confetti and streamers.  It would be impossible to overstate the expectations for the evening.  CNN talked about it being a history-making night and how people would always remember where they were this night.  Fred Barnes, a wise voice among the Fox News commentators, warned that it is dangerous to raise expectations so high and that Obama would have to recapture the “freshness, promise and momentum” of earlier days for the speech to be successful.  Juan Williams, a noted journalist and commentator for National Public Radio, reported that the night felt different in the arena.  He likened it to the poet who wrote, “My feet are tired, but my soul is rested.”  The expectations and emotions, he said, were palpable among those gathering for the speech.

Those feelings and emotions were heightened by the video introduction to Senator Obama.  The images focused on the theme of promise — “We promise our children that if they work hard and do their best, they can make whatever they want out of their lives.”  The scene following the video was unbelievable — the stadium of people was cheering wildly, waving their flags and lofting their placards.  As he has done before, Barack stressed the urgency of “now.”  “This is our chance to keep the American dream alive.”  And, he reiterated the theme from the video, “That promise,” he said, “is the reason I stand here tonight.”  Why?  “We cannot meet 21st century challenges with 20th century bureaucracy.”

Oddly, the speech juxtaposed tired liberal themes (“I want my daughters to have the same opportunities as your sons”) with conservative themes of individual responsibility (“Programs cannot replace parents”) as well as family values (“We must recover our intellectual and moral roots”).

It was an extraordinary tableau and probably Barack’s most important speech to date; certainly it was his most dramatic and perhaps the most dramatic political speech in history.  The spectacle was reminiscent of the Olympic opening ceremonies.  But, as Juan Williams pointed out, the emotion came from the moment rather than Barack’s words.  Barack was an eloquent speaker, however, and it was an impressive performance.  As Fred Barnes said, “It was amazing theatrics.”

His message seemed to boil down to the single claim, “I get it!”  He itemized the ways that Senator McCain does not “get it,” and challenged him on every criticism that the GOP has leveled at their rival for the presidency.  He cited specific failures of the so-called “Bush/McCain” era and how he would handle things differently.   He launched a direct assault on John McCain’s campaign.  While it wasn’t a great speech, according to Chris Wallace of Fox News, “it was a smart speech.”  Wallace praised Obama’s strategy of playing both defense and offense; he praised the way Obama pitted his personal, real life experiences against McCain’s accomplishments.  He seemed to be saying that as a Democrat he understands ordinary people in a way that Republicans never can.

In terms of his policies and promises, Barack was liberal to the point of being radical.  He rolled out the old Democratic agenda with a new patina.  In fact, Fox News commentator and syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer noted that Obama went back to his old imagery as an “Agent of Change.”

When he first came to the nation’s attention, Obama seemed like a fresh voice expressing new ideas.  Over the months of this long campaign with 24/7 cable coverage, we have all heard it before.  What made the acceptance speech so memorable was the setting, the crowd and the fireworks.  During the days leading up to the final night, there was a lot of second guessing from the media who wondered if the Greek-looking stage wasn’t a bit overmuch, too pompous and pretentious.  But Barack understood that with his shopworn, poll-driven content, he needed a new venue and dramatic staging to produce the excitement and emotion necessary for his ideas to seem fresh and new.

With the demographics and cultural dynamics of this election favoring the Democrats and the dramatic visual impact of the Democratic convention, the Republicans have their work cut out for them as they try during their convention to match or exceed Barack’s convention.

Janice Shaw Crouse is available for interviews during both the Democratic and Republican conventions. Janice Shaw Crouse, former speechwriter for the first President Bush, is an expert in presidential rhetoric and debate. She provides political commentary for the networks and cable channels as well as for the print media.  She is a columnist for UPI and Townhall. She is especially qualified to comment on the social, religious, women and children’s issues related to the 2008 presidential election.