History was made last week in Denver when a black man was nominated for president by a major political party for the first time. The week had many highpoints, with strong speeches by both Clintons, Michelle Obama, John Kerry, Al Gore, and Joe Biden (you can watch them all here). And to cap it off Barack Obama gave one of the best acceptance speeches ever to an adoring crowd of over 80,000.
The speech hit all the right notes—the failed policies of George Bush and the GOP, the need for universal healthcare coverage and a serious energy policy, and a commitment to real security. Obama had many excellent lines and often took the fight directly to McCain. He ended with an homage to the 45th anniversary of MLK Jr.s’ “I have A Dream” speech. Perhaps most importantly, he spelled out what “change” would mean by specifying proposals his administration would make. It was a brilliant speech, which we have come to expect from what has been an almost flawless campaign to date.
The ball is now squarely in the court of the American people.
Obama has demonstrated that he is a serious, thoughtful leader who would take America in a substantively new direction, one that is less divisive and more focused on the public good. He has assembled a team of extremely capable and experienced advisors, and chosen the foreign policy expert Joe Biden as his running mate. With an Obama presidency, the adults would be back in charge.
On the Republican side we continue to get more of the same. One of McCain’s healthcare advisors just days ago echoed a Republican talking point that there are no uninsured people in America because anyone can go to a hospital emergency room. This is profoundly ignorant—advocating socialized medicine at its worst—since hospital emergency rooms are hugely expensive and crisis-driven instead of preventative.
The week ended with McCain in desperation picking unknown Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, for his VP. Not long ago, the same Sarah Palin admitted that she didn’t even know what a vice-president did. Her selection is a sop to the religious right (Palin is strongly anti-abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, and believes in creationism) and a transparent attempt to woo Hillary supporters. Not even some of the most ardent Republican backers can deny how completely unserious this pick is (I can’t wait to see what national security hawks like Christopher Hitchens have to say, who have sworn that foreign policy judgment is the only criteria they are using to judge the presidential candidates).
So now it’s up to the American people. Will they choose the divisive (and now gender-identity) politics of John McCain? Or will they vote instead to change the dismal course of the past eight years, and heed Obama’s call: “America, you are better than this.”
We will know in a little over nine weeks. The stakes are about as high as they come. I urge everyone to do what they can—no matter how small—to nudge the American public in the right direction.
Jason Scorse