As Barack Obama steps onto the stage at the Invesco Field stadium in front of 76,000 people he can be sure that Republicans, still unconvinced Hillary Clinton supporters, conservative media, independent voters and all those who still believe him to be an unpatriotic Muslim with a strange name will be listening intently for anything which can be used as a reason to criticize him. Obama has a task on his hands tonight.
Michelle Obama, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Joe Biden and others have all done a great job of setting the stage for Barack this week. They have talked with conviction and persuasion about his family and his marriage, his American values, his readiness to lead and the strength of his policies when compared to McCain's. The Convention has been great success so far, but the true measure of its success will be its impact on the above-mentioned people. Whilst Obama's camp has apparently said that they expect no real bounce from the Convention, there is no doubt that they hope it will favourably influence the hard-to-reach voters in his direction.
By the end of tonight, will the 28% of Hillary Clinton supporters who have said they'd rather vote for McCain be fully committed to supporting Obama? Will the still undecided voters be persuaded that he is their man? Will those who have had their doubts about who he is and his ability to relate to their values acknowledge that, bar the superficial differences, this man is as American as they come? Will the Republicans still be successful in calling him an elitist figure who is nothing more than a Paris Hilton type airhead?
Tonight Obama must do a few things:
1) He must go way beyond the abstract and rhetoric and bring himself firmly back down to earth, by talking not only about hope and change but specifically addressing key concerns -- the economy, rising gas prices, foreclosures, the job market -- and putting his policies right out in front. This speech must be particularly substantive.
2) He must set out, in no uncertain terms, why he is better than McCain. McCain is still seen by most voters as the more experienced candidate, particularly when it comes to issues such as national security and that has to change.
3) He must be strong and harsh in his criticism of the Republicans. So far, Obama has been very kind towards the Republicans, but he must show them tonight that they can't mess with him.
Obama is a great orator, and judging by reports discussing previews of his speech, he will do all of the above and more.
On the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" Speech, tonight is an historic and significant moment. Tonight Obama must get it right.
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