Morning News
August 26, 2008
From the New York Times:
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, struggling with brain cancer, arrived on Monday night at the Democratic National Convention in a triumphant appearance that evoked 50 years of party history as Democrats gathered to nominate Senator Barack Obama for president.
… [I]t set the stage for the second part of what was designed to be an emotionally powerfully two-act evening: an appearance later by Michelle Obama, who began a weeklong effort to present her husband — and his entire family — as embodiments of the American dream.
“You see, Barack doesn’t care where you’re from, or what your background is, or what party, if any, you belong to,” said Mrs. Obama, without explicitly mentioning the racial undercurrents that have swirled around her husband’s candidacy. “You see, that’s just not how he sees the world. He knows that thread that connects us — our belief in America’s promise, our commitment to our children’s future — he knows that that thread is strong enough to hold us together as one nation even when we disagree.”
At the end of the evening’s proceedings, Mr. Obama appeared before the convention by video hookup, with his young daughters, Malia and Sasha, joining his wife on stage for what was clearly intended to transmit a loving American family tableau.
As elaborately choreographed as the evening was, with a series of speeches carefully screened by the Obama campaign, it was marked by an event that no was sure until the very last moment would happen, given the severity of Mr. Kennedy’s illness. He arrived at the convention site here shortly before dusk, accompanied by a flock of family members. He walked a few halting steps to a waiting golf cart, which drove him into the arena.
After a speech by his niece Caroline Kennedy and a video tribute, Mr. Kennedy walked slowly to the lectern, limping slightly, with his wife, Victoria, who kissed him and left him there. His white head of hair was noticeably thinned in the back; throughout the speech, he stared straight ahead to the front of the room. The crowd, many of them wiping tears from their eyes, cheered for close to two minutes until he settled them down.
“My fellow Democrats, my fellow Americans, it is so wonderful to be here,” said Mr. Kennedy, his voice booming across the hall. “And nothing — nothing — is going to keep me away from this special gathering tonight.”
From the Washington Post:
They have come to Denver ready to make history with their nomination of Barack Obama for president, but are nonetheless nervous about what has become a fiercely competitive general election against John McCain.
It was Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, ailing from incurable brain cancer, who provided the binding moment with an appearance onstage that brought tears and cheers from the assembled delegates and party leaders. His voice strong and resonant, Kennedy asked the party to rally behind Obama and to believe in what his election can do to change the country, and Kennedy vowed to be in the Senate in January to see it happen.
"I have come here tonight," he said in his rich Boston accent, "to stand with you to change America, to restore its future, to rise to our best ideals and to elect Barack Obama president of the United States."
But it was Michelle Obama who provided even more compelling testimony, linking her husband’s life and values to an American story that was aimed at easing concerns among voters who say they don’t yet know enough about the man who will claim his party’s nomination on Thursday.
"Barack doesn’t care where you’re from, or what your background is, or what party — if any — you belong to," she said. "See, that’s just not how he sees the world. He knows that thread that connects us — our belief in America’s promise, our commitment to our children’s future — is strong enough to hold us together as one nation even when we disagree."
From the Los Angeles Times:
Turning the personal into the political, Democrats opened their national convention Monday with a series of testimonials to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and a preview of sharp attacks on his Republican opponent, John McCain.
It was a parade of the past and future. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts — in the twilight of his 45-year career — vouched for Obama, who appeared on the national stage just four years ago.
The chief character witness was Obama’s wife, Michelle, who pitched herself and her husband as symbols of the American Dream. "I come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president," she declared. The mission of the convention’s first day was clear and two-pronged: to build an image of Barack Obama as a candidate Americans could embrace and to begin the task of contrasting him with McCain.
"I want to make the choice between myself and John McCain as clear as possible," Obama said at a news conference in Iowa. "I don’t want people to be confused."
The getting-to-know-you phase featured several branches of Obama’s family tree on the podium, including his brother-in-law, his half-sister and several longtime friends and associates from Illinois, his adopted home state.
But the advocate-in-chief was Michelle Obama, who reached for the transcendence of her husband’s 2004 convention speech — an address that galvanized Democrats and launched his national political career.
… Michelle Obama, a graduate of Princeton, stressed her blue-collar Chicago upbringing and her concerns for her daughters’ future. She described meeting her husband and discovering that despite his "funny name" they shared the values of working hard and treating people with respect. To those who would question her patriotism, Michelle Obama offered a long and passionate paean to America’s possibility, ending with the affirmation, "That is why I love this country."
From the Dallas Morning News:
A major goal of this Democratic Convention is to persuade uncertain Americans that Barack Obama has the values and the experience to be President.
And throughout Monday’s opening session, that task was undertaken by an array of speakers from long-time Illinois political colleagues to family members.
The principal endorsement of the man who will formally become the Democratic presidential nominee on Wednesday came from his wife, Michelle. Another came from his half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng.
And one of the most rousing came from Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., the son of the fiery civil rights leader and two-time presidential hopeful.
"I know Barack Obama, " Rep. Jackson said. "I know the difference he has made in the lives of children.
"We need such a leader who can heal the wounds of the last eight years," he said. "We need a leader who knows what unites us is greater than what divides us."
From the Iowa Independent:
True to form, former congressman Jim Leach, R-Iowa, delivered a speech to the Democratic party’s 2008 convention that was part endorsement, part treatise on American government Monday night.
“In troubled times, it was understood that country comes before party,” Leach said after listing several examples of bipartisanship in U.S. history.
“As a Republican, I stand before you with deep respect for the history and traditions of my political party,” Leach said at the beginning of his speech. “But it is clear to all Americans that something is akilter in our great republic. In less than a decade, America’s political and economic standings in the world have been diminished.”
Clearly reluctant to throw the crowd the partisan red meat it was accustomed to, Leach maintained a bipartisan attitude throughout his speech. He cast U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, whom he publicly endorsed two weeks ago, as a “transformative figure,” whose platform is more “change” than “Democratic.”
Leach was introduced to convention-goers by U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, Iowa’s Democratic senator. Harkin, who began his speech in sign language, highlighting his support for the Americans with Disabilities Act, called Leach a “strong, proud, influential Republican.”
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