Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

OBAMA/BIDEN 08

Hey, What can I say but:

"Yes We Can"

craig you need to insert a "to" between chance and deliver.

84,000 through security lines, per Secret Service. (CSpan just mentioned.)

Spike

As i've said several times it is the venue, an open stadium doesn't hold the noise in like an arena does.

If this had been held back in the convention hall the place would still be rocking but the stadium is now almost empty. People came to see the event and went home like a football game.

Jack

Craig: where are you situated?

CSpan callers: 2 GOP so far; one's writing in Romney and the other's for Barr.

Brian, My God, So correct!

Grammar has it!

Genius to mention Bill and Hill. an amazingly thorough speech.

Dog yet the place emptied out in 15 min.
Strange

Jack

Hey Lush,

All those that came for the free entertainment, somehow stayed for the sermon.

And, to think about it...McSame can't even fill a stadium in Dayton, OH that holds about 10,000. They are saying he can't even get the people to attend!!!

Poor McSame!

Jack -- Dog yet the place emptied out in 15 min."

No beer in the venue...

Spike

A bad mistake then.
alcohol and politics a natural combination.

Jack

Andrew Sullivan: I've said it before - months and months ago. I should say it again tonight. This is a remarkable man at a vital moment. America would be crazy to throw this opportunity away. America must not throw this opportunity away.

Know hope.

And he showed political guts by taking on the drilling issue and going against the majority wish of his party and came out for nuclear.

I didn't think the speech met the standard of Tuesday's and Wednesday's. In trying to hit every base, he added content from months ago that is really stale and, in a sense, discredited.

The fireworks were limp in comparison with what we saw during the past couple of weeks out of China. And, of course, it was simply impossible to achieve the massive choreographed production that occurred there. Was it a good idea trying when critics would certainly draw unfavorable comparisons?

FWIW, Bill Kristol thought it was great. I usually disagree with him and tonight is no exception. I thought it was a magnificent historic spectacle, but not a great speech so far as content was concerned.

thanks for the typo catch, brian. always appreciated. HA, i must have been choking on those words. But seriously, this speech was the old politics that wins elections, in my view. save the new politics (whatever that is) for governing

Craig -- "Clearly conscious of the charge that he is in empty suit devoid of specifics... In short, he defined change instead of just calling for it."

Craig, agree with you, but I think would have been much more powerful if it wouldn't have been a laundry list. I don't think it wouldn't have been to far to combine the rhetoric he's known for with the specifics he laid out.

MrD: you still around? Marvelous night.

GOP woman from Oklahoma to CSpan: all she could say: he will raise your taxes.

Next GOP: I am just as happy as I can be with America and I'm sick of the negativity. (Truck driver from Michigan)

Hell I wouldn't buy their $5 beer even on per diem, I'd head to the car for my cooler lol

have at it, folks. Craig has left the building

This was as perfect a speech as any politician has given this political season. BRILLIANT!

Man, poor GOP, who'd want to follow this week, they better hire those guys for their hurricane dance (KGC). LOL

Craig,

You've already partied too much. Sleep it off!!

MSNBC reported that they're bringing in GOPers from other cities to fill up the empty seats that McCain can't fill.

Wonder how the environmentalist are reacting to Obama's pledge for off-shore drilling and nuclear power.

The GOPer on CNN has just said that the Republican who hadn't been picked as the VEEP is lucky.. now THAT is high praise.

the opening video was great

Spike: check out this WSJ article -- no need for Obama to be everything to everybody.

Obama Should Just Be Himself

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121979655649074871.html?mod=fpa_mostpop

New America Foundation fellow Michael Cohen writing NYTimes blog -- commends John Kerry for the best non-acceptance speech at a Dem convention in 20 years.

http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/kerry-hits-it-home/?hp

The other aspect of the mile high that has been overlooked, is that by holding it in a stadium he opened up the party to the people.

"The speech was like a symphony" paraphrasing D Gergen

Are environmentalists opposed to nuclear or just nuclear without concern to safety?
The healt care remarks seemed to forbode a coming fight with the insurers.

Well done, Barack Obama! Time to move forward and seize the opportunity to kick John McCain's butt and sweep the Republicans out of office at all levels.

Brian, I'd sure love to hear the press acknowledge that point more. He's made the public a part of this process. How many times in modern history has that happened?

Liked McCain's congrats to Obama ad, mentioning this historic day.

Think how cramped and closed the repug convention is going to seem compared to this.

KGC......article on basket weavers......

http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/aug/28/basket_weaving_endures_from_african_tool52170/

This is the most complete and clear War Cry Since WWII.

I'm satisfied. that man is a brilliant strategist and this is a campaign with very few mistakes.

Brilliant Convention and congrats to all concerned!

To paraphrase MY favorite POTUS:
He was not the first choice. But he is the last one and the right one."
"What do you say, Democrats? You up for a good fight?"

~Gidget

What do you say, Democrats? You up for a good fight?"

~Gidget

YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN!!!!

Craig if you need further convincing, the fact that sturgeon is aggressively ignoring the speech by posting about basket weavers shows you just how good a speech it was.

All those right leaners at CNN are speechless after Gergen goes on and on about the success of the Demo convention and how the GOPers can't match it.

Brian, all the others have retired too apparently. LOL

YES WE CAN!
YES WE CAN!
YES WE WILL!!!!!!!!!!

I said Obama would prove himself by uniting the party, and prove himself he did.

Rez it's hard to type when you've gone fetal.

Yeah, but. . . .

*listens to a pin drop*

I can't wait till we find out what the viewership for the speech was!

What a terrible convention;

No beer available,
Fireworks were limp
Everyone left early

All those important thingys

But Rez,

Your missing all the fine points ;0)

I don't know what the bitch about the audio was, i listening in 5.1 and I heard the crowd just fine.

I'm listeing still on CSPAN and the sound is gorgeous. I'm exited at the sound....

Brian and Sheila,

It seems obvious to me now, all those criticisms about Obama's comments, policies, plans, experience,and background was all a big ruse for something else.

"But Mr. Obama went beyond attacking Mr. McCain by linking him to Mr. Bush and his policies. In the course of a 42-minute speech that ended with a booming display of fireworks and a shower of confetti, he offered searing and far-reaching attacks on his presumptive Republican opponent, repeatedly portraying him as the face of the old way of politics and failed Republican policies.

He said Mr. McCain was out of touch with the problems of everyday Americans. “It’s not because John McCain doesn’t care,” he said. “It’s because John McCain doesn’t get it. “

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/29/us/politics/29dems.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Anyone else notice how he kept calling McCain and angry old man.

later

Night rez, great night, historic on so many fronts.

Night brian,

Night John Boy!

I haven't even walked the dogs yet, I can't tear myself from the TV, LOL

Brian-
I'm watching his speech again on CSPAN...it's even better the second time!

~G

Fired up he was, and he delivered the speech well. I like the side profile we were afforded on TV ... it made Obama look even more serious and intense.
I sincerely hope the push from Iraq into Afghanistan bears success, and Obama seemed to take on the old Bush promise to smoke Osama bin Laden up outta that cave. I sincerely hope he gets that job done without sacrificing more thousands of American troops to do it. I also hope his anti-Iran saber rattling is just words.
Flatus, I feel ya, but nobody expected China-Olympics style fireworks; my god!---in the history of the world nobody has EVER witnessed that type of majesty.
The Denver bash was OUTSTANDING...even though I am jaded...I was so confident Kerry would boot the scoundrel out in 2004, and I was even more confident in the summer of 1988 when Mike Dukakis had a SEVENTEEN POINT lead over old man Bush. I know we have a tough fight on our hands.
GREAT JOB from Denver, Mr. Crawford!
I just wish Dr. Hunter S. Thompson could have driven in from Woody Creek to see this....to me, the fireworks were a tribute to him.

Gidget: you beat me to that comment! This speech is going to get a lot of play and links will be emailed all over the place.

It's a speech from somebody who says "I get it and we can all do better than this."

I came back because I didn't want to leave a wrong impression since I'm sure some have one.

My point was best stated by Al Gore. It's about the status quo that no one in both parties want to relinquish. Make of that what you will.

One of my favorite lines:
Change doesn't come FROM Washington...it comes TO Washington!

YES!!!

Thought for sure the campaign would pivot from "Yes We Can!" to "Yes We Will!" as part of this speech...

CNN clip via Talking Points: GOP consultant Alex Castellanos is more honest than David Brooks tonight. He knows what he saw. Last line: whoever McCain didn't pick as VP may be one lucky Republican.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/211150.php

The GOP could still pull this one out, though.

SoetorObama's Info Suppression
========================
"Stanley Kurtz's appearance on the Milt Rosenberg radio program in Chicago last night provided an unsettling look into the authoritarian tactics being employed by the Obama campaign to stifle and intimidate its critics.

One female caller, when pressed about what precisely she objected to, simply replied, "We just want it to stop!" Another angry caller was asked what "lies" Kurtz had told in any of his reporting on Barack Obama. The thoughtful response? "Everything he said is dishonest." The same caller later refused to get into "specifics." Another gentleman called Kurtz "the most un-American person" he'd ever heard."

http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZmRhYmE3NzFlMTljNTdmZGQ3MjhkYTVjNzdmMjVhMzE=

Hi GORDO. What did you think of Obama's speech?

Does anybody know the name of the orchestral music used during the fireworks and confetti?

The Denver convention had just enough drama simmering under the surface to keep it interesting and the press' attention focused, yet it never boiled over into the camera's view. Obama ran a masterful convention, he exploited the Obama - Clinton battle brilliantly. this may well go down as one of the best conventions in the history of the party.

I'd love to get OD's take on the speech, oh OD I know you're out there.

DEV-
I don;t recognize the music but (I'm on a theme here)but I would have used the song track from The West Wing and The American President!
~Gidget

dog's eye view ----------------------

Speeches never impress me -- no matter who gives them (including the Clintons). It's just a collection of words designed to manipulate people. Allowing a politician to control you through words is very dangerous. Hitler gave a great speech -- look what happened. Don't be so gullible. SoetorObama is still a fraud and con man. He has a "hidden" past.

thanks for answering, GORDO.

Ciao; turning in now.

GODWIN'S LAW ALERT!

GORDO for Prez 2008

review by Nate Silver of 538:

...and Speaking of Head-Fakes

That's what I think we got from Barack Obama at Invesco Field tonight. A gigantic head-fake. The Republicans were probably anticipating a more abstract, uplifting, grandiose address -- one more in line with the Obama caricature, and one which would make for easy critique in the context of the grandiose setting of an NFL stadium. Instead, Obama's speech was specific, hard-hitting, and functional. It wasn't a speech intended for the Rhetoric Hall of Fame; it was one intended to be responsive to the political winds of August 28, 2008. One needn't worry about trying to beat expectations when one is able to defy them.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

If folks were looking for a game chaser, they got one.

10 years to no more middle east oil!

Brian-
You're watching it again? (me, too)
It just gets better and better.
~g

Al Giordano of the Field with his take; bonus: lyrics to that song, "Only in America" .... sun coming up over New York City...

post ends with:

9:57 p.m. Former Reagan speechwriter Pat Buchanan, on MSNBC, says Obama's was the best convention speech in generations in the United States. He began to read from it, spellbound, and the network cut him off to go to a station break. Pure gold.

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/its-obama-time

yeah, watching the rebroadcast on msnbc.

Obama Lawsuit
===========
What happens if Obama is removed as the Democratic Party nominee

"We are receiving many emails asking what happens if in fact Senator Obama is forced to step down or is removed as the Democratic Nominee. For this reason, we have posted the Democratic National Comittee's 2008 Call Rules and
Regulations pertaining to replacement of a Democratic Nominee.

In particular, page 19, Section "G" states:

G. Filling a Vacancy on the National Ticket: In the event of death, resignation or disability of a nominee of the Party for President or Vice President after the adjournment of the National Convention, the National Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee shall confer with the Democratic leadership of the United States Congress and the Democratic Governors Association and shall report to the Democratic National Committee, which is authorized to fill the vacancy or vacancies. "

http://obamacrimes.com/index.php/component/content/article/1-main/10-what-happens-if-obama-is-removed-as-the-democratic-party-nominee

Recommendation:

I saw a really good movie this evening..Don Cheadle in Traitor..Excellent!!!

Brian-

I can't wait to hear his Inauguration speech.
I might even stay awake through the State of the Union.
~G

we gotta get him there first, Gidget. He's going to get the kitchen sink -- and the kitchen -- thrown at him.

McCain will do well to keep his head low or else it get knocked off his shoulders as that kitchen sink gets tossed back at him.

I can't wait to see the Pawlenty roll out. what a joke that will be. And a great collective yawn will be heard across the land.

Obama uses speech for high-tech outreach

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CVN_OBAMA_GET_OUT_THE_VOTE?SITE=NEYOR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

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