There is no doubt that the Democratic National Convention was a showstopper of which Senator Obama’s acceptance speech was the highlight. Through his speech, he miraculously embodied everything the Democratic Party has strived to become. In his speech, Obama appears to understand the change among Americans who now expect much more than the President can truly do. They believe that the presidency is so powerful and limitless but those are educated will know that it was created with limitations, many that conflict with of Obama’s plethora of promises.
Looking at one promise, Obama reaches out to the ill-informed masses by attempting to sympathize with their everyday problems. In his speech he mentions, “More of you have cars you can’t afford to drive, credit card bills you can’t afford to pay…” Obama’s solution is simply a change in leadership. He continues by blaming the failure to respond on President Bush’s policies. The President’s ‘broken politics’ did not run the average American’s credit card bill up; they did that on their own. Alluding to the idea that the President is the cause; and therefore a change in president to be the answer; is irresponsible and shameless. By doing so, he is continuing this trend of changing the public concept of presidential power and is promising something he cannot give. Another example of such a promise; is when Obama said, “Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave…” I wonder how the Senator plans to help these families. The Constitution outlines the power of the presidential office, which does not include the ability to help families with paid sick leave. This is an issue for a candidate of Congress, not the President. While he is trying to sympathize with the people, Senator Obama fails to provide an appropriate message of presidential reform.
In his speech, Senator Obama is hoping to paint his own picture of reality by framing Senator McCain in an unfavorable light. In an attempt to discredit his opponent, he tries to link Sen. McCain’s actions in the Senate to those of the ever so unpopular President Bush. In his speech, he states that McCain voted with Bush 90% of the time. This may seem discrediting unless you know that the President does not vote and since most votes in the senate are unanimous, it can be said that all Republicans voted with the President. As Dick Morris wrote: “The fact that McCain backs commending a basketball team on its victory doesn’t mean that he is in lockstep ideologically with the President.” Obama is attempting to frame Sen. McCain as another right-wing ideologist just like President Bush. As Obama has said many times, it would only be four more years of the same old policies By saying such, he is instigating a fear for the policies McCain could create with his presidential power.
Moreover this is the man who claimed; “if you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from” ! Senator Obama is hoping that people will see the picture he is painting as he tells the crowds how McCain is out of steam since he is falling back on old tactics. It is Obama who is using theses ‘stale tactics’ of linking his opponent to the most hated man in US politics, when in reality, McCain has been an independent and stood up to the President on many noted occasions. Furthermore, it is Obama who has no record to run on. He is a first term Senator now running for President. Because he lacks a record, he is painting McCain as the candidate whom people should run from. This is quite a jump from the reality of his own campaign to the perception Obama would like the uneducated masses to believe.
In is speech, Senator Obama made many promises, and I only covered a few. With all the power of the presidency come limitations. By promising a new America, he is continuing to raise the expectations of the people. We won’t know what type of president Senator Obama would be, we only know the candidate he is. But we can see from his lofty promises that he will have a difficult time fulfilling them once he realizes the full limitations of the office. His campaign could prove to hurt his Presidency once the public realizes that this man of change can only give them empty promises.
Dunn, Charles W. Seven Laws of Presidential Leadership. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Pearson Prentice Hall. 2007. Page: 8.
Lecture. 27 Aug 2008.
Morris, Dick. A Strategic Opening for McCain. 29 Aug 2008. http://www.rasmussenreports.com.
Dunn, Charles W. Seven Laws of Presidential Leadership. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Pearson Prentice Hall. 2007. Page 19.
Senator Obamas Acceptence Speech. BBC News. 29 Aug 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7587321.stm
Lecture. 27 Aug 2008.
Dunn, Charles W. Seven Laws of Presidential Leadership. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Pearson Prentice Hall. 2007. Page 19-20.
No comments:
Post a Comment