Tonight: No Double Standard

It's Thursday afternoon and Democrats in Denver are as quiet as an army on the eve of battle.

It's partly exhaustion. A political convention is no country for old men, but just 14% of delegates are under 36, meaning 14% at most are of an age to party hearty, as in truth nearly everyone here has done since the moment their planes touched down.

The quiet also comes from knowing in a few hours your champion faces a critical test. A month ago, Democrats who'd said there was no way to lose this election began thinking they'd somehow managed to find one. A week in Denver has restored some confidence.

Spirits started lifting the minute Ted Kennedy walked on stage. Since Teddy, we've heard fine speeches by Michelle Obama and Joe Biden and double barreled barn burners by the Clintons. Still, a Thursday Gallup poll has the race tied; other polls give Obama a slim edge.

Barack is a gifted orator. Director Spike Lee told CNN he doesn't worry about how Obama will do tonight, because he knows that, like a great athlete, he'll rise to the occasion. I hope he's right, but Babe Ruth never had this much riding on just one at bat.

Everybody knows Obama can paint portraits. Tonight he must also draw a blueprint. It's hard doing both at once. He also needs to connect intimately with the American people; hard to do while painting a portrait and drawing a blueprint and even harder while looking out on a live audience of 75,000 from a set that makes 'Aida' look like 'Our Town'.

Of all Obama's tasks, drawing the blueprint may be the one that gets most in the way of the others. A drumbeat has been taken up not only by Republicans and the press but by many Democrats. Its message is that Obama's message is too vague. The pressure is on for him to dispel all this criticism tonight in this toughest of venues.

I agree with the critique of Obama and would apply it as well to most Democrats of this generation. But there's a double standard in this campaign regarding so called substance and it's time someone got called out on it.

Seen John McCain's web site? It has less issue content than a high school sophomore's MySpace page. McCain once blithely confided he knows nothing about economics. Every day he proves he wasn't kidding.

On some of the biggest issues -- take education -- McCain has almost nothing to say. When he does speak out, it is to say almost nothing. Let's just look at one example, health care.
McCain's entire health care program is a tax credit to people who purchase their own. To help finance it he'd make those getting coverage at work pay taxes on it. For millions of Americans it would be a financial calamity. Coming with no real cost containment and with his new tax cuts for the wealthy it would be a calamity for the U.S. Treasury as well.

No one seriously presses McCain on any of this. At the same time pressure is on Obama to spell out every detail of proposals already far more developed than any of McCain's. It's time for the press and all of us to take stock and hold the two campaigns to one standard.

In the speech of his life, Obama need not risk losing the silken thread of his rhetoric in the numbing detail of his policies. If he's looking for an example there is none better than the one set last night by the Big Dog himself, Bill Clinton.

I once helped write speeches for Clinton but as I've said before it was like handing sheet music to a jazz musician. Clinton can turn a stadium into a living room in a matter of minutes. No one's better at distilling complex issues into clear choices.

It's hard to be a party of change, let alone a leader of a genuine transformation. New truths take longer than old lies to explain. You don't do it with complexity or abstraction. You simplify. You need to stake out your major positions, not annotate your every program

Tonight, Barack Obama faces as tough a challenge as any speaker ever dreamed of facing. If he meets it, let no one get away with pretending he didn't.

Comments

[johnwinner]

Obama knocked it out of the ball park. If anyone i the middle-class thinks race is an issue, they might as well declare bankruptcy now, because that's what mccain promises us.

[jeg]

"Still, a Thursday Gallup poll has the race tied..."

48% to 42% with a +/- of 2% is tied?

... And that's only with 2 of the 3 days of the rolling average being post-convention.

[Spud777]

Don't trust polls!

[criquet]

People need to be honest with themselves and the MSM is not telling it like it is. Obama is probably 4% -6% off what his poll numbers would be simply because of race.
All of these comments about celebrity, empty suit , no experience , code for he's black so I am not voting for him.

[scottman1085]

How do you know that people aren't voting for him because of his color?

[runningdreamer]

Preach it!! It was the same when he was running against Hillary. A black man must do everything twice a godd as a white man to stay even. Sad state of USA.

[scottman1085]

Yeah, real crappy country, half of us are living in huts. Poor people are starving to death, no health care. Haven't you seen it too?

[SoyAA]

I have been much happier watching C-Span. I talk with my friends and co-workers who hear all the pundits and remind them that, while the Republican party is good at attack ads, we still don't know what McCain stands for.

[slaxx]

"A month ago, Democrats who'd said there was no way to lose this election began thinking they'd somehow managed to find one."

no offense, but maybe dems should have considered this sooner, like a year ago. i'm an indepedent voter and was very disappointed with the dem's decision - of course the lack of experience would be a hinderance in a general election. however, considering all of the things that could work against obama, i'd say he's done well with the general public throughout this campaign and is stil doing pretty well where he is.

[scottman1085]

he can't win, he's for gigantic government spending. Check out his speech tonight.

See if there is one comment in defense of capitalism. No, it will all be about how crappy things are and how spending money will fix all our problems.

[Mikeatle]

Just what do you think capitalism is, scottman? It's all about spending money. Frankly, I like having some money being spent in my direction for once. Let the important capitalists eat cake for awhile.

[Spud777]

scottman1085, LOL at your inaccurate post; for the last eight years, under republican control of Congress and the WH government spending has been hugely out of control, at least two generations will be paying for the Bush and Republican Follies. Please don't make idiotic comments on an intelligent site. Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limpbaugh is more your speed.

[TheImpaler]

“A week in Denver has restored some confidence­.” – I don’t know about that? If anything, it reminded me of the convention four years ago and what it led to. If Obama wins it will be despite this convention, not because of it.

[Gma11]

Has anybody ever expect so DAMN MUCH from one man?!

Various bloggers have their list of what Obama MUST do!! Sheesh! Give it a break.

Get on board, for god's sakes!! And get to real work.

[Whodunit]

It will be an important speech, but it's hardly nake-or-break. It's the first step of the last ten miles to the White House, with plenty of hussle and opportunity along the way. McCain will have his week, and then the real race, the real battle, the real core of the journey will take place.

Yes, Barack needs to energize party activists tonight, but the majority of the voters he needs are all but brain dead to goings on in Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Engaging with them begins the week after next, and then it'll be crucial. But not yet. This is for the faithful. Important, but not imperative.

[scottman1085]

God, I can't wait until he gets elected.

Imagine no more wars, and with free health care, and lower gas prices, I just know my life will be better.

Everybody knows that college education, good job, retirement, vacations, and tickets to Disneyworl are god given rights.

I just know he can do it.

[Mikeatle]

Know what, scottman? If Obama could get all those things for us, I bet you'd be first in line. That's how it is with people like you. You complain your butts off about "tax and spend" Dems, but you're there first in line to get what's coming to you.

Frankly, universal health care and a better education system, K-college, would be great. It sure beats sending billions to Iraq every month.

[Singha]

You must be doing great in this economy.

Would you like to buy more houses???

[Spud777]

Along that vein, do you know how many homes you own, or will you have your "STAFF" get back to us, scotty.

[FogCityJohn]

You don't have to worry, Mr. Curry, because no matter how well Obama meets his speaking challenge, the Republicans and their loyal handmaidens in the MSM will say that he didn't. We have to forget about them and just organize, campaign, and vote.

[slaxx]

true. no matter what anybody does, they're damned if they do and damned if they don't.

[JackieW]

This article is so on point! I am daily amazed at the double standard. Can you imagine if Obama confused Shiite and Sunni Muslims?? Can you imagine if Obama invited the country to war with Russia with the proclamation, "we are all Georgians"? Every single day, the media meme is "why can't Obama close the deal, why isn't he even more ahead than he is"? But never the reverse. You never hear "why isn't McCain romping Obama - he's a known commodity - he's mavericky and he's the media's very own flyboy (at 72??) and he has scads of money and Karl Rove's protege is running the campaign and ... and... Barack's got a crazy old pastor and there's video of his lunatic rants and.... for God's sake, the guy's middle name is Hussein ?? How can John McCain be so defective that he can't wrap this up???

[scottman1085]

Gosh you're so right. Obama will save us. Lower taxes, better jobs, health care.

You say he's got a crazy old pastor though. hmmm, how long did he go to church there?

[Mikeatle]

Lower taxes, better jobs, health care. Sounds good to me. I live for the day the military has to hold a bake sale to pay for its latest big boy toy.