Senator Edward (Ted) Kennedy, in a magnificent speech at tonight’s Democratic National Convention, gave his full support to Barack Obama’s candidacy. He passed the torch of Camelot to Barack Obama, a torch he has been holding since the tragic murders of his two older brother, John and Robert.
Ted Kennedy is extremely ill at the present time with a brain tumor and has been undergoing radiation and chemotherapy. But his energy, drive, and determination on stage tonight were legendary and trademarks of the Kennedy strength and stamina.
Ted emphasized that the Democratic party has never been about what cannot be done, but what is possible. When John Kennedy challenged Americans to send a man to the moon before 1970, his words were “we choose to go to the moon, not because it is easy, but because it is hard”. The American flag is still the only flag on the moon to this day nearly 50 years after John gave that speech. Barack Obama has been accused of looking to create an idealistic America. But if we never dream different dreams and try different things we will never grow and make the world a better place. If we never dream big and try to make our dreams reality we would not have been able to put a man on the moon, but we did. It’s a fact, a part of history.
Michelle Obama put it so eloquently in her call to action that we must fight for the world as it should be.
Obama’s challenge isn’t to go to the moon, but to still do what no one before has been able to accomplish. He plans to solve the problems of working class Americans with programs designed to give them a leg up. It’s been proven over and over again that the right intervention at the right time can make the difference between failure and success. I personally benefited from the Pell Grant system and the federal guaranteed student loan program to get my college degree.
His ideal is to provide medical care and coverage to all Americans is extremely important. 47 million Americans, many of them children, have no health insurance. 1.85 million Americans file for bankruptcy each year because of medical expenses they cannot pay. This is a problem of epic proportions and must be addressed and solved. There is no more time to study it or wait around. It is time to act.
Ted passed the torch of his legacy to Barack. Barack is ready to take up the challenge and move America and the world to new heights.
- If we can go to the moon, we can lift Americans out of poverty.
- If we can go to the moon, we can provide all Americans quality health care.
- If we can go to the moon, we can improve our schools and provide alternative education programs that include all students regardless of their ability to fit into “the school system”.
- If we can go to the moon, we can create new sources of energy and become a country independent of foreign oil.
- If we can go to the moon, we can find a way to pay a higher minimum wage, a wage that provides a full-time worker with enough income to live above the poverty level.
- If we can go to the moon, we can win the war in Iraq and bring our soldiers home.
- If we can go to the moon, we can win the war on terror and bring Osama bin Laden to justice.
- If we can go to the moon, we can solve the social security crisis.
- If we can go to the moon, we can do all of the above without raising taxes on the middle class.
- If we can go to the moon, we can solve America’s problems and bring peace, acceptance and prosperity to everyone.
- We went to the moon. We can accomplish these tasks, too.
This is a historic week in American history. Forty-five years ago this week Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Eigthy-eight years ago women finally won the right to vote. This week in 2008, a man of mixed race will be nominated for president and a black woman was cheered greatly for an extremely well-given speech about her working class roots and those of her husband. Michelle Obama gave a brilliant speech. Many were in tears because she touched the cords in us all that hold us together as people. Her speech was about our common strengths and that only one generation ago this election campaign could never have happened. But today, she and Barack are living proof that the American dream is alive and well and that anyone can do anything he or she chooses to do with hard work, dedication, and perserverance.
Barack’s choice of Senator Joe Biden to be his running mate is being critcized by all the right-wing pundits, but I believe it to be a choice of great strength. Joe Biden brings decades of experience to the ticket. His strengths compliment Barack’s. Rush Linbaugh was down-talking Obama on the radio today that he showed weakness by not picking Hillary as his running mate. But Hillary would not be a good running mate for Barack. They are too much alike. They don’t compliment each other. Besides, Barack needs Hillary in the Senate fighting and voting with him. She is a strong force to be recond with, and will be an even stronger ally in the Senate.
Hillary now has the opportunity to decide what she wants her legacy to be and to live that legacy to pass down to future generations. She will still be young enough in 8 years to make another run for the presidency. She is formidable now. She will be unbeatable then, should she choose to run. In the meantime, she has the opportunity to do some really great things. I hope she will choose to build a legacy as strong and as valuable as Ted Kennedy’s.
The convention tonight didn’t even mention John McCain, positively or negatively. By choosing to focus on what this party is going to do to unite itself and America after the election and on what it plans to do to make this country and this world a better place shows me that they have no need to waste convention time talking down the opposition instead of talking about hope and a bright future. I’m sure there will be speeches that point out McCain’s weaknesses, but not tonight. Tonight was about positive change and common ground.
I bet the Republicans will waste a lot of their convention time attacking and demonizing Barack Obama. I don’t believe the Republicans have much to stand on of their own, so they have to attack to make their candidate seem like more of a good pick than he is. John McCain has played the P.O.W. card a few too many times when asked tough questions. He has thrown his hat into the nomination ring many times. He won the nomination this time because the Republicans really don’t have much of a chance against the Democrats. By running him and having him lose, he won’t throw his hat in the ring the next time the Republicans have a shot at the White House.
Once Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were able to mobilize such a huge grass roots backing, the Republicans were no longer in the running. The Democrats did it with technology and appealing to a very wide audience. Voter registration and participation is up considerably over recent past elections. The Republicans still don’t know what Twitter is. A grass roots campaign is easy today if you know how to use the tools. John McCain didn’t have to know how to use them, but he should have put someone on his staff that does. He missed out on a great opportunity to mobilize a grass roots campaign of his own just because he doesn’t use email, text messaging and social media to his advantage. If he thinks those things are going to go away, he is sadly mistaken.
Barack Obama also hasn’t accepted any campaign funds from special interests or political action committees. His entire campaign was and continues to be funded by his grass roots supporters like you and me. He is beholden to no one except the American people, and that is who the President should answer to. John McCain preaches campaign finance reform. Barack Obama is living it far beyond McCain’s plan.
Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Convention 2008, DNC, family values, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Ted Kennedy
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my RSS feed!
written by joubess
\\ tags: Barack Obama, Convention 2008, DNC, family values, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Ted Kennedy
Recent Comments