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[Alex Wilson <alex AT awstudios.net>]

On 8/3/04 2:49 PM, "Shea Tisdale" <shea AT sheatisdale.com> wrote:

> Ok, I'm gonna go out on a limb here.  Am I the only one who thinks this
> Obama guy is entirely over rated?  So far his only true claim to fame is
> that his opponent Jack Ryan was married to Jerry Ryan and they divorced over
> some sexual issues involving sex clubs.

I think his DNC speech is overrated, but I don't think Obama is. The more I
read about this guy (the New Yorker article that someone else posted a link
to, for example), the more I'm fascinated by him.

The speech was significant because most people hadn't heard of this very
good orator who managed to work within the watered-down, measured/ sanitized
DNC-speech-format and still manage to inspire and rally the troops.

Most of the press I've seen about Ryan didn't even mention Obama. I knew
both stories (this guy Obama won some surprising primary victories, and
Ryan's divorce bruhaha) prior to last week, but never noticed they were
running against each other until after his convention speech.
 
> I know I'm being a bit harsh here, but come on.  His speech was mediocre at
> best and he's being treated like the greatest politician to emerge in years.
> In contrast, I thought Al Sharpton delivered a pretty good speech and he had
> the balls to speak his mind unlike all the rest of the good democrats.

I like Sharpton and I _really_ liked his speech. I think it's a shame the
way he's treated by pundits. Jon Stewart on The Daily Show did a great job
covering how the media received the speech on Thursday night. They talk
about the style of Sharpton's speeches and nothing on the substance--even
when interviewing him about it--and they discredit him as though it's
conventional wisdom that what mistakes Sharpton has made disqualifies him
from serious discussion.

It'll be interesting to see if Obama gets the same dismissive treatment
after he makes his first big blunder, or if his broad appeal will let him
survive what I view as a real political double-standard. I hope so.

Alex.

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