I had every intention of watching both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, Tuesday through Thursday, from 7 to 11 pm EST. I followed through with that last week for the RNC, but due to Time Warner Cable deciding to leave me without cable starting at almost exactly 7 pm last night (I know - conspiracy, right? Just kidding) until 3:30 in the morning, the only portion of the DNC I could watch was on ABC from 10 to 11, where I watched both San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro and First Lady Michelle Obama speak. Due to the limited time I was able to watch the convention last night, I won't be able to provide as thorough of an overview as I had the previous Tuesday through Thursday. If I have cable the next couple nights, though, I will certainly watch the DNC in its entirety as I had initially intended.
Just based on what I did in fact see last night, I noticed both striking similarities and differences between the two conventions. As far as similarities go, both speakers were similar to speakers at the RNC, in general terms, as far as subject matter and approach went. Castro went on the attack against Mitt Romney, much in the same way many speakers at the RNC went after Barack Obama. Both he and Michelle Obama told stories to try and relate to the average person/voter, again, very reminiscent of RNC speakers. Where they differed is that they seemed much more willing to talk positively about Barack Obama and defend his record, as opposed to most speakers at the RNC, whom appeared to be playing a game called, "Whoever can go the longest without saying the name Mitt Romney wins the jackpot." There was a noticeable difference in the crowds as well. Granted, Democrats have dominated with minority voters for a long time, but it was difficult to not notice the great diversity of the crowd in Charlotte, North Carolina tonight, especially in comparison to the RNC crowd in Tampa. Also, and this came as a surprise to me given enthusiasm gap polls showcasing that Republicans are more enthused about voting this election than Democrats - the crowd in Charlotte felt much more energetic and lively than the one in Tampa, Florida. The crowd in Tampa sounded rather tame in comparison.
As for the speeches themselves, I thought that Julian Castro provided a great deal of energy and got the crowd pumped and ready for the First Lady. Castro gave himself some kudos for the work he's done in San Antonio, but spent most his time either bashing Mitt Romney or praising Barack Obama. The man didn't shy away from cliches or starting chants, but more than made up for it through his tone, pace and energy. He didn't get much into specifics, as has seemed to be quite common in the two conventions, but overall, think he did a very nice job.
That brings me to Michelle Obama. I gave Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, plenty of praise for her speech last week. If it weren't for Condoleeza Rice's, I feel that Ann's would have been the best of the convention. While I don't think she was able to completely persuade people of her husband being a good, decent, honest, everyday kind of guy, I think she did as good a job as she probably could have and also showed herself off in a good and strong light, having battled both multiple sclerosis and breast cancer. Keeping that in mind, I think Michelle Obama's speech was far superior and to this point, is the best speech at either convention. Much like Ann, she didn't get into specific policy ideas of either her husband or his opponent. She also wasn't fiery and attempting to rile the base like Julian Castro did before her. No - of all the speeches I've heard at either convention, her's felt the most real, the most personal, the most genuine. She spoke about the doubts she had, as a mother, of her husband becoming president. She worried first and foremost about their daughters well-being, in starting a life in the spotlight. She worried about the presidency changing her husband. She worried about the family due to this drastic change in all their lives. The speech came across as very heartfelt and almost had me in tears by the end of it. I think she did a brilliant job and set the bar pretty high for the two great orators coming in the next couple nights - Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. It appears as if I'm not alone when praising the First Lady's speech.
Chris Wallace of Fox News said she was "masterful".
Also of Fox News, Brit Hume, said that the First Lady is an "extremely impressive and attractive woman".
Karl Rove even said that her speech was "very well delivered".
The first words that came out of MSNBC's Rachel Maddow were, "Oh my god".
Steve Schmidt, formerly of the McCain campaign in 2008, said the First Lady's speech was "brilliantly written and brilliantly delivered".
Chuck Todd, of MSNBC, said, "Michelle Obama owned this convention in a way that no speaker owned the floor of the convention in Tampa".
Over on CNN, Anderson Cooper said he had "never heard such a well delivered speech by a first lady ever".
Wolf Blitzer followed that up by calling the speech a "grand slam".
John King also chimed in by saying that her speech would be "hard to top".
Michelle Obama did what most politicians haven't been able to do at the conventions. Where they have simply spoken words to attack their opponent or praise their party's candidate, she tapped into something we all share with one another, regardless of our party affiliation - love and family, spoken from the heart.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/04/michelle-obama-media-reactions-dnc-speech_n_1856453.html
Just based on what I did in fact see last night, I noticed both striking similarities and differences between the two conventions. As far as similarities go, both speakers were similar to speakers at the RNC, in general terms, as far as subject matter and approach went. Castro went on the attack against Mitt Romney, much in the same way many speakers at the RNC went after Barack Obama. Both he and Michelle Obama told stories to try and relate to the average person/voter, again, very reminiscent of RNC speakers. Where they differed is that they seemed much more willing to talk positively about Barack Obama and defend his record, as opposed to most speakers at the RNC, whom appeared to be playing a game called, "Whoever can go the longest without saying the name Mitt Romney wins the jackpot." There was a noticeable difference in the crowds as well. Granted, Democrats have dominated with minority voters for a long time, but it was difficult to not notice the great diversity of the crowd in Charlotte, North Carolina tonight, especially in comparison to the RNC crowd in Tampa. Also, and this came as a surprise to me given enthusiasm gap polls showcasing that Republicans are more enthused about voting this election than Democrats - the crowd in Charlotte felt much more energetic and lively than the one in Tampa, Florida. The crowd in Tampa sounded rather tame in comparison.
As for the speeches themselves, I thought that Julian Castro provided a great deal of energy and got the crowd pumped and ready for the First Lady. Castro gave himself some kudos for the work he's done in San Antonio, but spent most his time either bashing Mitt Romney or praising Barack Obama. The man didn't shy away from cliches or starting chants, but more than made up for it through his tone, pace and energy. He didn't get much into specifics, as has seemed to be quite common in the two conventions, but overall, think he did a very nice job.
That brings me to Michelle Obama. I gave Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, plenty of praise for her speech last week. If it weren't for Condoleeza Rice's, I feel that Ann's would have been the best of the convention. While I don't think she was able to completely persuade people of her husband being a good, decent, honest, everyday kind of guy, I think she did as good a job as she probably could have and also showed herself off in a good and strong light, having battled both multiple sclerosis and breast cancer. Keeping that in mind, I think Michelle Obama's speech was far superior and to this point, is the best speech at either convention. Much like Ann, she didn't get into specific policy ideas of either her husband or his opponent. She also wasn't fiery and attempting to rile the base like Julian Castro did before her. No - of all the speeches I've heard at either convention, her's felt the most real, the most personal, the most genuine. She spoke about the doubts she had, as a mother, of her husband becoming president. She worried first and foremost about their daughters well-being, in starting a life in the spotlight. She worried about the presidency changing her husband. She worried about the family due to this drastic change in all their lives. The speech came across as very heartfelt and almost had me in tears by the end of it. I think she did a brilliant job and set the bar pretty high for the two great orators coming in the next couple nights - Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. It appears as if I'm not alone when praising the First Lady's speech.
Chris Wallace of Fox News said she was "masterful".
Also of Fox News, Brit Hume, said that the First Lady is an "extremely impressive and attractive woman".
Karl Rove even said that her speech was "very well delivered".
The first words that came out of MSNBC's Rachel Maddow were, "Oh my god".
Steve Schmidt, formerly of the McCain campaign in 2008, said the First Lady's speech was "brilliantly written and brilliantly delivered".
Chuck Todd, of MSNBC, said, "Michelle Obama owned this convention in a way that no speaker owned the floor of the convention in Tampa".
Over on CNN, Anderson Cooper said he had "never heard such a well delivered speech by a first lady ever".
Wolf Blitzer followed that up by calling the speech a "grand slam".
John King also chimed in by saying that her speech would be "hard to top".
Michelle Obama did what most politicians haven't been able to do at the conventions. Where they have simply spoken words to attack their opponent or praise their party's candidate, she tapped into something we all share with one another, regardless of our party affiliation - love and family, spoken from the heart.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/04/michelle-obama-media-reactions-dnc-speech_n_1856453.html
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