DENVER, Aug. 28, 2008
For Obama, The Challenge Of A Lifetime
Washington Post: Before A Huge Crowd, On A Historic Date, Obama Will Accept The Nomination In A Highly Anticipated Address
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His Proud Moment
Black leaders' react proudly to the selection of Barack Obama as the first black U.S. candidate for president.
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Making History
Harry Smith chats with Minn. delegate Sandra Hollinger Samuels about her memorable reaction to Barack Obama's official nomination as Democratic Candidate for president.
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Photo
The stage is set, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008 for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., at Invesco Field at Mile High where he is scheduled to accept the Democratic nomination for president in Denver. (AP)
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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., shares a laugh with his staff as he looks at the venue at Invesco Field at Mile High Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008, where he will accept the Democratic nomination for president. (AP)
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Photo Essay
Barack Obama
A look at the life and meteoric rise of the president-elect.
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Photo Essay
Obama Claims Nomination
Barack Obama secures the Democratic presidential nomination in historic race against Hillary Rodham Clinton.
From Our Partner:
Sen. Barack Obama will step onto a stage bordered by Greek columns and walk down a runway that dead-ends at a lectern on an island. There, alone at the center of Colorado's biggest stadium, he will stare out at 2,000 lawn chairs pressed toward the stage, 80,000 people crammed into three levels of seats and 450 stadium spotlights pointed directly at him.
Even for Obama, a veteran speechmaker, the setup at Invesco Field makes for the most intimidating venue of his career. On the 45th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, Obama will become the first African American to accept a major party's nomination for president when he addresses the crowd Thursday night.
His campaign has gambled on the historic moment by creating a stage that will magnify his performance. Succeed here, in front of the largest Democratic National Convention crowd in nearly 50 years, and Obama's speech will be remembered as one of the most powerful moments in modern politics, a perfect launch into the final stage of the general election. Fail, and Obama risks fueling Republicans' criticism that he is an aloof celebrity, fond of speaking to big crowds but incapable of forming genuine connections.
Obama wrote the speech last week in his customary manner, crafting a first draft by hand on yellow legal paper. He studied past convention speeches and found inspiration in remarks by Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy, advisers said. Then he sequestered himself in a Chicago hotel room, preferring it to the chaos of his house or campaign headquarters.
His speechwriters have traveled with him, helping trim and edit -- a process that continued Wednesday afternoon as Obama flew into Denver. The longtime aides have learned to leave the essential elements of Obama's speeches intact, those close to the candidate said. Advisers often say Obama is his own best speechwriter. It surprised nobody in his campaign when he seized control of writing Thursday's address and shaping its message.
"I think I have to do two things," Obama said this week. "I want to make the choice between myself and John McCain as clear as possible. I don't want people to be confused. And I also hope that the convention conveys who I am. You know, during the course of a 19-month campaign, I think that you, you're on the television screen, you're in big auditoriums, but sometimes who you are may get lost. And I want people to come away saying, 'Whether I'm voting for or against the guy, I know what he stands for.'"
Obama said he expects his acceptance speech to be "workmanlike," which would mark a major departure from the formula he has relied on during key public moments in his life. In his 1990 speech as incoming president of the Harvard Law Review, Obama told a story of his mixed-race biography that drew the venue's cooks from the kitchen and caused waiters to stop serving, friends who were there recalled. Early this year, he wrote a major speech about race at a moment when his past association with the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. threatened to derail his campaign, and delivered it in Philadelphia against the instincts of his closest advisers.
At the last Democratic convention, in Boston in 2004, Obama cemented his reputation as a talented public speaker by delivering a 17-minute keynote address that focused thematically on the country's divisiveness. His speech contained few new ideas, but it transformed him overnight from a little-known Illinois state senator into a national figure.
Thursday's speech, Obama said, will have few similarities to his 2004 address. He has become sensitive to the criticism that his speeches are lacking in content, friends said, and he is expected to outline the ways he will try to address the nation's problems.
But changing his style carries some risks. "You can talk all you want about policies and programs, but that's not what people respond to," said Martin Medhurst, a professor of rhetoric at Baylor University. "People respond when they are touched emotionally, and that's what he's so good at. It's going to be very important in his speech tomorrow night that people get excited emotionally. That's what they want from him."
Obama will step to the lectern under the burden of tremendous expectation. Not since Kennedy spoke to 80,000 people in Los Angeles at the 1960 Democratic convention has a nomination-acceptance speech generated so much anticipation. Public tickets, given away online, disappeared in just more than a day. Some scalpers now sell single tickets for more than $1,000.
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At 5 p.m. Thursday, convention officials will close down the Pepsi Center, and the assembled delegates and journalists will migrate one mile west to the football stadium. Traffic officials will close Denver's main highway. A major musical act -- maybe Bon Jovi -- will play a brief set. Confetti and fireworks will shoot into the sky at the end of Obama's speech.People respond when they are touched emotionally, and that's what he's so good at. It's going to be very important in his speech tomorrow night that people get excited emotionally. That's what they want from him.
professor Martin MedhurstOn Wednesday, dozens of workers hurried around Invesco Field to finish the stage. One woman scrubbed dirt off the hollow Greek columns. Another cleaned the wooden lectern. Obama's image will be beamed onto the stadium scoreboard and two other screens behind him, officials said, but vendors also plan to make binoculars available for rent to those in the upper deck.
Obama turned up Wednesday night to familiarize himself with the stage, also using the opportunity to regard the stadium from different vantage points.
The last time Obama delivered a major speech -- to 200,000 people in Berlin -- images from the event ended up in the background of a John McCain ad, which referred to Obama as "the biggest celebrity in the world." On Wednesday, the McCain campaign e-mailed reporters descriptions of the Greek columns as more proof of its portrayal of Obama as egotistical and out of touch.
Friends said Obama rarely gets nervous before appearing in public anymore, but few speeches have mattered as much as this one. As he walks down the 20-yard runway toward the lectern, he will have plenty to contemplate. Can he deliver a speech rich in both policy and passion? Can he stand out and yet not stand apart?
"Here's the thing about Barack," said Marty Nesbitt, Obama's closest friend in Chicago. "I keep thinking that maybe he's getting in over his head, and this is too hard and it's going to get to him. But he surprises me and delivers every time."
Staff writer Anne E. Kornblut contributed to this report.
By Eli Saslow
© 2008 The Washington Post Company
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See all 244 CommentsRomney Family Gets Security Sweep
Roll Call is reporting:
If security sweeps are the giveaway, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney may be on the brink of being selected as Sen. John McCain''s (R-Ariz.) vice presidential running mate.
According to sources with strong Michigan ties, the Secret Service has conducted a security sweep of the home of Romney''s sister. Romney was raised in Michigan, where his father served as governor.
However, one campaign operative familiar with the working of a presidential-level campaign cautioned that a sweep of such a location could have been conducted in advance of Romney appearing as a surrogate -- not the vice presidential nominee -- at an upcoming McCain campaign stop in Michigan.
Which means this isn''t quite the same thing as when we learned Biden was getting Secret Service protection. Take it for what it''s worth now. There are also reports that Tim Pawlenty has cancelled many of his afternoon and tomorrow engagements.
That%u2019s McCain%u2019s gift to Wall Street.
Just as the clear winner of the popular vote in 2000 was Al Gore, the clear winner of the popular vote in the Dem primaries was Hillary. Just as Gore was denied his rightful victory by manipulations and un-democratic procedure, so too was Hillary gored.
Time has not healed the result of the 2000 debacle. In fact, the thief of that election is now regarded as the WORST ever by the overwhelming majority of Americans and people of the entire world. The same will occur with the Dem primaries of 2007/2008. History will eventually label "sweetie" hussein, and his equally unethical side-kick Plagiarist-Joe, as the WORST - regardless of what happens subsequently in 2008 and beyond.
Americans do not like cheaters. The stench of his action in hijacking the nomination is permanently attached to hussein. Plagiarist-Joe should steal a word other than "clean" to describe him.
Not to worry, he will slowly extract the knife
he placed in Hillary''s back.
NOW the press can write that this is truly the
first NEGRO presient, unlike the fake Bill.
What was once colorless is now black.
Go figure.
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Yawn.
"we live in the greatest country in the world, now help me change it"
if it''''s the "greatest country in the world" - WHY the F would you "change it"???
Posted by badaxmofo at 05:20 PM : Aug 28, 2008
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To keep the RINO Jesus Nutballs from causing further damage.
Change is as easy as allowing Bush''s tax cuts to expire -- sounds relatively easy and highly probable
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Dude, TidyKat, chop, chop. Oil stains concrete. Then go have a Belgianweiser.
Some hawkish pro-Kremlin politicians have claimed U.S. Republicans could have provoked the war to keep Democratic candidate Barack Obama out of the White House by fomenting concern among U.S. voters over security, an area in which they say Americans trust Republican John McCain more.
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NO!! Say it''s not true....Republicans starting wars!!
It must be more Russian propaganda...Our beloved, corporate, money worshipping, warmonging, hypocrite, right wing leaders wouldn''t do that!
ExxonMcCain-Mitty Big Bucks 2008......
Does this pompous twerp really believe he can appeal to guys who get their hands dirty for a living?
Posted by badaxmofo at 05:25 PM : Aug 28, 2008
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Yawn.
http://www.bobcesca.com/blog-archives/2008/08/presumptuous_gr.html
Always fascinated me the way Washington has copied from the great classical civilizations in architectural terms - yet here the Republicans (Imperialists?) are criticizing Obama''s choice of backdrop. Hypocrisy is alive and well!
@ Trapbreak, in how many different blogs how can you post the same thing?
@ fstop100, it would seem from the past 2 elections that more than 50% of Americans believe that any buffoon can run the country. But as an educated man, Obama isn''t likely to get your naive republican vote.
Does this pompous twerp really believe he can appeal to guys who get their hands dirty for a living?
Posted by Snapper4298 at 05:26 PM : Aug 28, 2008
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With his onset Alzheimer''s McCain can''t even remember those words......72 years really old....
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An artificial creation of the loony-left liberal media.
As real as a cartoon.
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Does this pompous twerp really believe he can appeal to guys who get their hands dirty for a living?
Posted by Snapper4298
Guys who get their hand dirty for a living will do better under an Obama Presidency than under McCain! McCain will give us more of the failed economic policies of G.W. Bush, with tax breaks for the rich and none for the middle class! Before he flip-flopped on the issue, McCain said in 2001 about the Bush Tax Cuts "I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans who need tax relief."!
It is sad that the majority of us do not know enough of the history of selecting,,, SE''lecting, not E lecting,,, Presidential candidates. Prime- ary elections,,, that is to say election "primers" or beginners of the process, began only in the 20th century. By 1960 there were only between 10 and 15 of them. They WERE not and ARE not intended as the sole source for selecting a parties candidate.
2. Mrs. Clinton had my complete backing and will again if she runs in the future, but she did not become the "clear winner"of the primary votes. Had she, she would be the nominee. In states where voters were required to take up to 2 hours to make their vote known, cucus states, the Obama supporters turned out in more numbers and invested the whole hour or two in their choice.
He won. We did not.
He MUST win if our goals of return to respect for the Constitution, health care for each American, fiscal sanity and more are to be met.
Do not dishonor Hillary Clinton by rejecting Barack Obama.
Scott Brundage
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Posted by fstop100 at 05:06 PM : Aug 28, 2008
Ask Lincoln. Worked out ok for him.
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Posted by specialty8 at 05:34 PM : Aug 28, 2008
That was so hilarious man. You should be a comedian. With jokes like that, you''ll go real far.
Where did all that money go?
Why was there no improvement in the still horrible Chicago school system?
If this has been a success wouldn''t Obama be bragging about it now?
Why does Obama never mention it at all?
If he has nothing to hide why doesn''t he instruct the Library to relese the records?
Was this just a typical corrupt Chicago scheme to launder taxpayer and private donor funds to political allies and socialist causes?
The fact that this is in Chicago, has the Ayers family name all over it, Obama ran it and now the cover up makes this one stinky onion just waiting to be peeled.
[Posted by Credibility2 at 05:35 PM : Aug 28, 2008]
did you have this same problem w/ gwb in 2000?
of course you didn''t, because it has nothing to do w/ experience or qualifications ... it only has to do with ideology ... and if it''s not in line w/ yours ... nothing is good enough ... and if it is ... nothing else matters.
right?
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Posted by Credibility2 at 05:35 PM : Aug 28, 2008
Yeah. He got tens of millions of people to vote for him out of affirmative action. Right. You are a genius.
Posted by N0moreRepubl at 05:58 PM : Aug 28, 2008
So now we get to watch Biden pisss himself because he can''t remember to zip-down.?
Posted by donnie5712 at 05:56 PM
This from the a supporter of a president that
466 days spent at his ranch;
327 political fundraising events;
359 days at Camp David;
attended 95 sports-related events.
Were those vacation days or days a Commander-In-Chief was AWOL at the time or War?
And he is worried about Obama?
can this man deliver? or is he another nancy pelosi..
Oh, look. It''s Sierra...I mean our "Ghetto Princess," Sista Tee, Mistah Tee''s sister, no doubt.
How''s the blackface holding up, there, "Sista?"
Troll.
Posted by AmericaBiker
HEY YOU SHOULD KEEP THAT STUFF TO YOURSELF AND GO SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP!
----------- Posted by mr2258
Is that a "fact" M.R.?
Haven''t you signed up for the McCain Health Plan yet to fix that little "fact" problem of yours?
Remember?
It''s as close as the nearest HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM!
"So I have a solution [to the health care crisis]. And it will cost not one thin dime," John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, told the Dallas Morning News in an interview published Thursday."
That''s right. The FINAL SOLUTION for our health care needs is the EMERGENCY ROOM.
What a great plan.
Run. M.R.
Get help.
My friend.
Posted by AmericaBiker
WOW! THATS GREAT!, BUT REALLY YOU SHOULD KEEP THAT STUFF TO YOURSELF!
Lord Obama had 70k fans at a rock concert in Oregon.
World Citizen Obama had 200k fans at a Berlin Rock Concert.
No Show Obama ignored troops and said the surge was a failure??
What does this tell us.
Obama has the experience to be a Concert Organizer but will be a lousy Commander in Chief.
Posted by SummerRunner at 06:13 PM : Aug 28, 2008
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Dont get so excited. Barrack2MillionBucksHouseHusseinOsama wont go beyond this: A black candidate. Our next President will be John McCain.
-- BagdadsHere2
Great news, Bag Dad!
You can get help for your COMPULSIVE LYING!
Just go to the ER. It''s FREE!
Yep. THe McCain Health Plan is free, and It''s as close as the nearest HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM!
"So I have a solution [to the health care crisis]. And it will cost not one thin dime," John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, told the Dallas Morning News in an interview published Thursday."
That''s right. The FINAL SOLUTION for our health care needs is the EMERGENCY ROOM.
Run, Bag Dad.
Get help.
Before it''s too late.
I THOUGHT THAT REPUBLICANS DIDN''T BELIEVE IN SCIENCE
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