This closing is so brilliant. It ties together the story of his life with his message of hope and rebuts the doubts about his patriotism that have plagued this campaign. Obama effectively frames his story in the larger context of the American dream to achieve a better future. Finally, he challenges the Democratic party, and the super-delegates implicitly, to believe in his message and in his ability to win this election. It was a brilliant speech and addressed the problems the media has focused on but did so through a narrative more persuasive than any argument.
Great speech by Barack tonight at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Raleigh, NC. I'm not going to ruin this by editorializing too much, although I will say that it was quite a speech. Many of the Kossacks on the live thread of this event were very excited, and we wanted to share this with you. I recommend we all watch this. It starts off slowly, but by the end it is a masterpiece.
This is a personal rumination at what I saw and heard during the time I arrived in Richmond shortly before 9 AM yesterday until I finally left my last event well after midnight. This was not my first Jeff-Jack, and I had the opportunity to spend time with a wide range of people, and to observe even more. Virginia is now a state where the Democrats are increasingly confident about their ability to win at all levels of government, and are showing a willingness to do a Commonwealth equivalent of Howard Dean's 5- state strategy - even Republicans in what appear to be "safe" seats are increasingly finding themselve with Democrat challengers.
I invite you to read along. If you watched the speeches at the dinner, you will already have some sense of the evening's culmination, with the crowd almost berserk in its support of Barack Obama. I hope what I offer will give some of the background for what you might have viewed.
A mere week after launching Students for Hillary and touting its support among young people, top advisers to Hillary Clinton were busy in the spin room Saturday night disparaging them, claiming that Obama's supporters were young and unlikely to caucus.
Good strategy: A week after finally setting up your campaign's organization to attract young people, tell them they won't vote anyway so their presence is irrelevant.
"I think it is time for us to give America hope," said Edwards. "It is time to give those entrenched interests that are standing against America hell."
Welcome to another Sunday edition of the Edwards Evening News Roundup! It's a somber day for all of us because today we remember those who have fought for our freedom's on this Veteran's Day.
Leading up to the JJ Dinner, I had been worried that Hillary or one of the other candidates would come up with something for Barack to worry about. I had been worried that maybe Obama would screw up or make a speech worse than someone else's. And as Hillary approached the podium, I began thinking to myself: Would this be a tough act to follow?
Well, it's over. There was nothing for me to worry about. Obama trounced the competition, easily. Hillary's speech was terrible. My 6th grade English teacher gave better lectures than that. (by the way, my 6th grade English teacher will be voting Obama)
Hillary's speech was weak and shameful. Who wrote it? Did she improvise? That's got to be it. Nobody working for a presidential campaign could type up that monstrosity. Right?
The readers and activists here on DailyKos have always been supportive of me and my progressive agenda in the Senate.
It was the DailyKos community that stood Up All Night with me to try to bring an end to the Republican filibuster and an end to the War in Iraq. And it was readers on DailyKos that stood with me on important issues such as restoring disability rights and investing in our domestic priorities through my Labor-HHS Appropriations bill. I am grateful for your support.
Now I would like to give you an opportunity to have dinner, so that I can talk with you about your ideas for moving our country forward.
I have two extra seats at my table for the sold-out 2007 Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa on November, 10th with all of our great Democratic Presidential candidates. I was wondering if you and a guest would like to join me at my table?
Calling All Bloggers: Join Us for Lunch At the J-J in June The Party is excited to hold its first ever face-to-face meeting of Netroots activists during our annual Jefferson Jackson Weekend. The lunch discussion will be held from 12:00-2:00 PM on Saturday, June 9 at the Westin Diplomat Resort in Hollywood, FL. We encourage attendance at what will undoubtedly become an important Democratic tradition in Florida politics. Tickets are $50 (to cover costs), and the event is open to all. Attendees must RSVP to pperry@fladems.com by June 1 or purchase ticket online at http://www.fladems.com/...
I am Barry Welsh and I am the Democratic Party Congressional Candidate for Indiana's 6th District.
Last night was the State Party Jefferson Jackson Dinner and here is the Official Indianapolis Star version. My personal perspective below the fold.
A comment that I must share for those that do not read the brief article:
The evening was a hit with supporters, including Lawrence Township teachers Roni Embry, 40, and Sheila Baker, 59.
"I think the Democratic Party is close to where the working people are," Embry said, adding that events like the fundraiser "help personalize politicians."
"They're everyday people," Embry said. "They could be my neighbors."
This is one thing we as candidates must accomplish in my opinion.
Max Cleland spoke at tonight's Democratic Party of Georgia's Jefferson Jackson Dinner. He actually awarded the Hope Award to a Georgia Democrat. His second standing ovation was when he let us in on a little secret. He said, as closely as I can remember:
"I am going to let you in on a secret. For years I have said I was injured in Vietnam. That is not true. I actually was duck hunting with Dick Cheney...."
His first standing ovation was when he rolled onto the speaker's platform. He is well loved.
Here in Maine, the Democratic Party is holding its Jefferson-Jackson Dinner tonight. Our guest will be DNC Chairman Howard Dean. Part of the event will be a small private dinner with Dr. Dean. Rather than have it be only for big donors, as would be more typical, it was opened up to those who could raise a lot of money at house parties held a couple of weeks ago. The house party I was at I guess decided to raffle off the spot at this dinner to someone who had contributed. I did not win the raffle. But last night, the man who did called, and said he could not use it, and asked if i would like to.
This weekend, my partner, Michael, and I are attending the Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Lewiston, Maine. I will be drunk within the first 3 minutes. But, at approximately the 2½ minute mark, I intend to hand the keynote speaker, DNC chairman Dr. Howard Dean, a printout of this diary.
Why?
Because it will contain messages from you and your brilliant minds.
Please use this diary to send greetings, questions, suggestions, cheers and jeers, and---why not?---recipes to the governor. I will print this out tomorrow afternoon and take it with me to the dinner.
And yes, I will delete any bullshit...so RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!
