We've had an unusual week here in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The same venue, the Resch Center, hosted Barack Obama this Monday at noon, and John McCain and Sarah Palin last Thursday at 6 PM. Add in Joe Biden's appearance here three weeks ago (at the KI Convention center), and this small city has seen the entire cast of this cycle's presidential candidates in less than a month.
As a witness to all of them (and a volunteer at the Democratic events), I can personally attest to the fact that the candidates couldn't be more different in style and in substance.
For those who want to see what the professional media had to say, here are the links to the local paper's coverage of the Obama event, complete with video highlights and pictures:
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/...
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/...
Obama's 45-minute speech Monday on government and regulatory reform in front of about 7,000 people at the Resch Center came as Congress considers a $700 billion bailout of bad loans. Although the Illinois Senator urged bipartisan support for the rescue proposal to fix the imminent crisis, he also said such a plan would need accountability.
"We cannot give a blank check to Washington with no oversight," Obama said. "No oversight and no accountability is exactly what got us in this mess in the first place."
Four days after McCain and running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin used the same location to tout their economic platform, Obama outlined a series of proposals he says will prevent future financial crises from reaching the bailout stage. The two face off in the Nov. 4 general election.
"For too long, the doors of Washington have been open to an army of lobbyists and special interests," Obama said. "We must reform waste and abuse in the government."
But that's what the local media thinks.
Here are my impressions.
Obama's speech was a well-crafted, lengthy, and policy-filled masterpiece. I think this may have been a debut of a new major stump speech. It ran nearly an hour, and was very well received by the more than 7000 people in the arena. Highlights included Obama's assertion that he was going to eliminate the Bush practice of turning the West Wing into a training program for highly paid private sector lobbyists and defense contractors, and his repeated vow to end the current regime's secretiveness and let the sun shine in on the workings of government.
He also added his thoughts on the current MOAB bill to rescue Wall Street now in front of Congress. He's less than impressed. Which is good--so am I. The last thing I want to do is give a member of the Bush administration a blank check for nearly a trillion dollars, and the permission to spend it any way he pleases.
Obama was introduced with great warmth by Senator Russ Feingold. Also speaking in advance of Obama were Senator Herb Kohl, Congressman Steve Kagen, Governor Jim Doyle, and many others. The state's political officeholders were there for Obama in full measure.
This was in stark contract to McCain/Palin, who were introduced by congressional Republican candidate John Gard, and by a local nurse, a former Clinton Democratic delegate who was booted out of the Democratic convention for swearing she'd vote for John McCain. Neither were particularly compelling speakers that night. There are plenty of elected Republicans in Wisconsin. I'm not sure whether the Republican politicians stayed away for reasons of their own, or if they weren't asked to speak.
Alas, the McCain/Pailin event packed in over 10,000, 3000 more than Obama, but they did their speech after working hours. Obama's Monday morning speech was a lot harder for working people to attend, and Green Bay is a blue collar town full of working people.
That aside, it was the difference in the style of the two rallies that interested me most.
The Democratic rally was fully lit, with straighforward staging. A large area was set aside for Americans with disabilities, and there was an interpretor for the hearing impaired. Volunteers were organized to help those who needed the section get in and out of the convention center. (disclosure--I was in that group of volunteers. I personally wheeled in forty people with various mobility challenges, plus arranged seating for many others who needed room for their wheelchairs, scooters, canes, crutches, and the like.)
The Obama rally, with all its speakers, lasted nearly two hours. Union workers were there in droves, along with a strong presence of several Native Amrican tribes--a speaker for the Oneida tribe gave a wonderful opening benediction. Obama came out on stage through a simple draped door behind the podium after his introduction. No ceremony and no theatrics. Small American flags were handed out to the audience, but there were no other props in evidence.
It seemed to me like Obama wanted the audience to HEAR what he had to say.
The McCain/Palin event, on the other hand, was staged like a high-end high school pep rally or a low-end rock concert. Prior to the entrance of the candidates, the house lights were lowered, rotating star-shaped spotlights fanned the crowd, and loud 'thunder-drum'-style music built tension. The candidates entered the rally through a tunnel topped by (I kid you not!) a twenty foot high gold cutout of the state of Wisconsin, then proceeded on a raised walkway to the dais to speak. The house lights were never turned back on fully, so the audience had to focus on the spotlit candidates or squint in darkness. The rally handed out noise-making green and gold Thundersticks, cheerleader pom-poms, and large signs that said "country first" on one side and "McCain/Palin" on the other. Despite all the screaming and noisemaking semi-darkness, Sarah Palin spoke less than 10 minutes. I clocked it at seven minutes--the campaign said eight. John McCain spoke for 12 minutes. Neither made any serious policy statements (Unless you count McCain's vow to let you know who reqests earmarks as policy). Both speakers ranted about Obama and pretty much repeated the bits of their convention speeches that hadn't been thoroughly branded as lies. (plenty of lies stayed in--though not the Bridge to Nowhere line.) Perhaps that was why the speeches were so short--not enough substance remained to fill the time. The opinion I got was that the candidates were there to be SEEN, not heard.
As far as I could see, there was no special treatment for Americans with Disabilites. In John McCain's ownership politics, it appeared to me that those so afflicted owned the problem of finding their way in and getting a suitable place to sit without much help from the campaign.
No questions were entertained from the audience.
I think both audiences, Democratic and Republican, were wildly enthused by their candidates.
But I know which compaign seemd to most respect its audience and respect its intelligence.
This week made me proud to be a Democrat. (Further disclosure--I'm a life-long Republican who was driven into becoming a Democrat by George W. Bush).