February 11, 2009 2:24 PM
- Text
Was Speech Setting Over The Top?
(CBS)
It was considered a risky, perhaps even a daring move by Barack Obama's campaign, having him accept the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday night in a football stadium.
The scene shifted from a convention center that holds 20,000 people, where the Democratic convention's first three days were held, to Denver's Ivesco Field, home of the Broncos, which seats 80,000.
The lights, the fireworks, the superstar performers, the packed house -- did it all work? Or was it, as many Republican politicians and operatives were suggesting it would be long before the event was even held Thursday -- too much?
On The Early Show Friday, former FBI agent Joe Navarro, author of "What Every Body Is Saying," says the imagery had its desired effect -- very much so.
It "absolutely" worked, Navarro told co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez. "This was democracy at its best. It was open... You look at ... everything -- the people, the surroundings, the colors, the imagery. It reminds you of Athenian democracy."
Rodriguez pointed out that one of the charges made by critics beforehand was the columns on the stage made it look a little bit too much like a temple, like this was meant to worship Obama as a god.
"Not at all," Navarro responded. "This is about that, you know -- we use images of these columns from Athens to tell us about our history of democracy, about openness, about the people. And we have a great example of this where this has been opened up, I think, for the first time and may set a precedent for future conventions. Very powerful."
Navarro added that columns are used in structures throughout Washington: "They're at the White House, they are at the Library of Congress, they are at the largest memorials, and they draw us in, and they remind us, this is about democracy. Extremely powerful images."
One part of the night Navarro says he particularly liked was afterwards, when the Obamas walked off, as a family. He said the setting looked like that of "the White House. And you see them walking off into (it). ... (It showed that), 'Hey, we're normal. Just like you. We are a family.' Very, very powerful images here. We haven't seen these, by the way, since the Kennedys. ... And when you see them walking away, you see that they fit in. They're comfortable here. We're comfortable with them. This is extremely powerful. They're going to be talking about this for a very long time. Very tough to top."
Navarro noted to CBS News that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was criticized for giving his famous "I Have a Dream" speech (45 years to-the-day before Obama's speech Thursday night) at the Lincoln Memorial but, Navarro said, it wouldn't have looked the same if he did it at a concert hall or a hotel conference center.
And Navarro, a body language expert, was impressed with Obama's. Navarro told CBS News Obama spoke with his palms up -- "that is excellent ... It's like saying, 'Take what I present to you.' "
Also, Obama put his hand over his heart with an open, wide palm, as opposed to holding it sort of closed, which is what people do because it looks good, not because they mean it.
The scene shifted from a convention center that holds 20,000 people, where the Democratic convention's first three days were held, to Denver's Ivesco Field, home of the Broncos, which seats 80,000.
The lights, the fireworks, the superstar performers, the packed house -- did it all work? Or was it, as many Republican politicians and operatives were suggesting it would be long before the event was even held Thursday -- too much?
On The Early Show Friday, former FBI agent Joe Navarro, author of "What Every Body Is Saying," says the imagery had its desired effect -- very much so.
It "absolutely" worked, Navarro told co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez. "This was democracy at its best. It was open... You look at ... everything -- the people, the surroundings, the colors, the imagery. It reminds you of Athenian democracy."
Rodriguez pointed out that one of the charges made by critics beforehand was the columns on the stage made it look a little bit too much like a temple, like this was meant to worship Obama as a god.
"Not at all," Navarro responded. "This is about that, you know -- we use images of these columns from Athens to tell us about our history of democracy, about openness, about the people. And we have a great example of this where this has been opened up, I think, for the first time and may set a precedent for future conventions. Very powerful."
Navarro added that columns are used in structures throughout Washington: "They're at the White House, they are at the Library of Congress, they are at the largest memorials, and they draw us in, and they remind us, this is about democracy. Extremely powerful images."
One part of the night Navarro says he particularly liked was afterwards, when the Obamas walked off, as a family. He said the setting looked like that of "the White House. And you see them walking off into (it). ... (It showed that), 'Hey, we're normal. Just like you. We are a family.' Very, very powerful images here. We haven't seen these, by the way, since the Kennedys. ... And when you see them walking away, you see that they fit in. They're comfortable here. We're comfortable with them. This is extremely powerful. They're going to be talking about this for a very long time. Very tough to top."
Navarro noted to CBS News that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was criticized for giving his famous "I Have a Dream" speech (45 years to-the-day before Obama's speech Thursday night) at the Lincoln Memorial but, Navarro said, it wouldn't have looked the same if he did it at a concert hall or a hotel conference center.
And Navarro, a body language expert, was impressed with Obama's. Navarro told CBS News Obama spoke with his palms up -- "that is excellent ... It's like saying, 'Take what I present to you.' "
Also, Obama put his hand over his heart with an open, wide palm, as opposed to holding it sort of closed, which is what people do because it looks good, not because they mean it.
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