So far, most of the prime-time slots have been announced and I am liking them. I especially like Mark Warner giving the keynote.
There are, however, lots of smaller slots yet to be announced, and I was wondering who they would include. There are a few people I'd really like to see who I fear may not get a chance to speak.
- Gary Hart
It would be very fitting for a former Colorado senator who was a big-time player in presidential politics during the 80s to get a chance to address the convention now that it is in Denver. And before you bring up Donna Rice, realize that no one cares enough about it anymore. At least not enough to have any negative impact on Obama (plus everyone's favorite adulterer, Bill Clinton, will also be speaking).
Why, besides the Colorado connection would I really like to see Gary Hart? Because Hart was Obama before Obama. His insurgent campaign in 1984 was very reminiscent of Obama's campaign of this year. Hart was all about change, new ideas, and a rebirth of hope and idealism in the party. In a sense, that rebirth never fully took place until possibly now with Obama.
- Jimmy Carter
A former President and Nobel Prize winner should have no trouble getting time to speak, right? I fear that the Dems will pull their usual scared-stiff routine and try to keep as much distance as they can from Carter, due to his recent book about Israel and Palestine, and his meeting with Hamas. It's one of the most frustrating things about the party for me. They'll run scared whenever there is any controversy rather than standing their ground and fighting back. Heck, they even run from labels like "liberal" and "progressive". Contrast this with the Republicans who have no problem arguing with each other publicly about who the most "conservative" is.
The Democratic party, of all parties, should be open to different opinions. Whatever your opinion on the Israel-Palestine issue, I would hope that you'd find it troubling that there is absolutely no room for debate about it in the mainstream. Besides, Jimmy Carter wouldn't make that part of his speech.
Why do I want to see Carter? Because he was the most honest and decent person to inhabit the White House in modern times. He was a visionary whose ideas and understanding was way ahead of its time. Go back and check his views on the energy crisis. The integrity Carter brought to the White House is what I hope Obama can bring (though I hope Obama isn't as unlucky as Carter was...a lot of the low points of Carter's presidency were not his fault). Obama has made integrity and transparency and new politics a central point of his campaign. Finally, Carter is getting rather long in the tooth and I hope he is appreciated as much as possible while he is still with us. This might be his last convention.
I hope the Dems have the decency and spine to show an elder statesmen the respect he deserves.
- Ted Kennedy
I know Kennedy has taped a message, and I know he almost certainly will not be at the convention. But I really wish he'd be there in person.
It would be nice to see Kennedy have one last great moment. There is sadly a good chance that he won't be with us in 2012. Ted Kennedy, to me, is someone I always expect to see at the convention, and his speeches are always among the highlights. His 1980 speech was one of the most inspiring and rousing in history.
To me, Ted Kennedy embodies the Democratic Party. Through the embarrassing landslide losses, disintegration of the traditional coalition, shameful move to the "center", and stolen elections, it has always comforted me to know that there is still a Kennedy from Massachusetts in the Senate who is unafraid and proud to be a liberal. As long as he has been there, I've known that people like us will always have a strong, powerful voice.
Kennedy's endorsement of Obama may go down as his last great service for the Democratic Party. For once, we got the most progressive of the available candidates, and I highly doubt Obama would be our nominee if it weren't for Teddy's endorsement. Yeah, I know Obama lost in Massachusetts by a significant margin, but Kennedy's support went far beyond that. When Teddy and Caroline stood on that stage with Obama and endorsed him, it really signified the moment that the media and, in turn, the general public, accepted Obama as a serious, viable candidate. The massive media coverage of the endorsement leading up to Super Tuesday is what enabled Obama to score a draw on that crucial day. Without it, Obama would have still been viewed as a minor candidate, and perhaps as the "black candidate", and he probably would have won 3-5 fewer states than he did. He would have lost by much bigger margins in places like California. All this because lots of people who preferred Obama would have been reluctant to support someone who wasn't mainstream and "electable" (trust me, I knew LOTS of people who wanted to believe in the Obama campaign but didn't know if they could take it seriously...they wanted to vote for a candidate who they thought could actually get elected). Hillary would have been confirmed as the "inevitable" candidate, and that would have been it.
It would have been very fitting for Kennedy to give a rousing speech at the convention. At least we got to see his endorsement speech.