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I’ve Got Mixed Feelings About Barack Obama’s Campaign Trail Rhetoric.
His speeches are excellent…but where was this attitude when he was in office?
Well as we all know, midterms are rapidly approaching. Naturally, that means both Republicans and Democrats are coming out swinging, with their most prominent officials traveling around the country in an effort to garner support for the candidates.
Of course Barack Obama is among them and unsurprisingly, his speech on the campaign trail in Wisconsin got a lot of attention online.
In the clip that went viral online, Obama says:
“Some of you here are on social security. Some of your parents are on social security. Some of your grandparents are on social security. You know why they have social security? Because they worked for it. They worked hard jobs for it. They have chapped hands for it. They had long hours, and sore backs, and bad knees to get that social security and if Ron Johnson does not understand that…if he understands giving tax breaks for private planes more than he understands making sure seniors who have worked all their lives are able to retire with dignity and respect, he’s not the person who’s thinking about you and knows you and sees you, and he should not be your Senator from Wisconsin.”
I was only about 8 or 9 years old when Obama emerged on the scene, and delivered that famous speech at the Democratic convention in ’04. Even when he was running for President himself when I was about 12 I was of course fully aware of who he was, but still too young and not immersed in politics enough to fully understand just what drew people to him. I’ve always heard the hype about the charisma. The energy. That spark. Watching this speech from Wisconsin was probably the first time I was genuinely able to see exactly what it was that captured the attention of the country when he ran, and appreciate what people saw in him.
Honestly, it just made me kind of sad.
Don’t get me wrong. The speech was fantastic. Everything about it. The rhetoric, the passion, the cadence. Watching it was one of those experiences where you realize that some people are just born to do this, and he’s definitely one of them. It should go without saying…
