The Speech had a very specific audience.
It was all soaring rhetoric and complex, honest ideas and a truly nuanced view of race--not at all the sound bites that I was expecting. It's the kind of speech that rewards only those who are paying close attention.
I was emotional when I watched it and then, like many others, I dutifully went to comment on various websites...only to find the most horrifically hateful response I could imagine. I have become convinced that this is a coordinated effort from either Republicans or Hillary supporters, or both--is that possible or am I being paranoid??? Scary stuff.
Anyway, my thoughts on who the audience for The Speech is, below the fold.
I think the first audience is us.
The activists/polical junkies, who will watch the speech, and read it and send it to our friends and family, and donate and phonebank and canvass and volunteer and be re-energized. The people that are powering this movement and building every victory. And we've had a tough couple of weeks and a ROUGH couple of days. I think he wanted to inspire us again. If we had doubts about his character, he wanted to dispel them. And if we had doubts about his campaign, he wanted to show us he wasn't taking the attacks lying down. That he wouldn't let the narrative be controlled by someone else. I have been all Chicken Little for a week now, (and maybe I am still somewhat Chicken Little) but I felt so proud to support Barack today. And yes I will be donating and phonebanking and making everyone I know watch the Youtube video of The Speech and generally working very hard for him.
The second audience is the media. They are watching just as closely as we are, obviously. It's amazing to have seen the MSM turn on Obama so ferociously and relentlessly these past few weeks. I think that he is trying really, really hard to win them back and to give them a new and better story. Namely, "Obama Overcomes Race". "Obama Returns". "Obama Bounces Back from Wright's Death Grip". Ya know....
In a way, I feel the stage is set. Did you see Scarborough say that this was "possibly his last speech"? I almost died of anger. And yet, that framework is SO extreme. Surely...everyone expected a wonderful speech from Obama. Even Scarborough who has been on a witch hunt. I think they are bored of that and he is giving them a reason to stop playing the Wright clips over and over again--even calling it what it was, a distraction! I really think that the media narrative will change now. I think that speech has really helped that.
The last audience: the superdeledates. Again, a group of people who are watching closely. He needs to reassure them he can WIN and fight back. And the fact that he is someone who makes an earnest attempt to engage the American people, I think that's what Democratic leaders like about him, and what makes them choose him over HRC. His ability to inspire and bring other into the process. This was a chance for him to knock their socks off and show he can respond to attacks creatively, and how presidential he is.
So...who's the speech not for? People in Pennsylvania. Working class people in general. The truth is this speech is too complex for them in the sense that they aren't going to watch or read it. They may catch a snippet on the nightly news, but it's not the kind of speech that lends itself to snippets.
But...here's the thing. That's alright. It wasn't intended for them. Right after his speech Barack headed off to campaign in a small town and he's already pivoting into the issues that matter to these voters, namely the Iraq and the economy. If he wins the media back so that they stop playing Wright over and over, they'll start covering all of his economic plans and his Iraq War ideas. And if he can re-energize his grassroots support, then we'll be working our butts off phonebanking and canvassing and donating. And he can convince superdelegates to get off the fence, he can continue to expand his delegate lead and compound the impossibility of Hillary's comeback. Meanwhile, he'll be campaigning in every corner of the state, winning the working class voters, one by one.
This was a brilliant speech. And I am very proud of him.
ps. Isn't there a debate tomorrow?