Clinton and Obama on TV

Although we didn't go to see Senator Obama at the downtown convention center tonight, we did watch some of Obama and Senator Clinton's speeches in West Virginia - whose primary is tomorrow - from earlier today. Clinton gave a populist (and it's the economy, stupid-type) speech not unlike the one we saw her give in Kentucky. Obama's speech picked up themes from his speech in Raleigh the night of the North Carolina and Indiana primaries last week. His speech was indoors, focused primarily on patriotism and care for veterans, and mentioned other issues primarily through this prism (partly with the idea that WV has contributed more people to the military). He repeated his description of the burial of his grandfather the WW2 veteran (including the flag) - recipient of GI Bill largesse - with a call for a new GI bill. His laundry list of programs sounded not unlike Clinton's laundry list for the whole country. He tried to connect his usual soaring, hopeful-rhetoric with a call to national service through the military and honoring commitments to veterans. He even criticized opponents of the Vietnam war for failing to greet returning Vietnam veterans. Obama is right that many Americans were/are over in Vietnam and Iraq for patriotic reasons, and others were partly just following the draft or trying to get money for college (the "economic" draft). But, put in a difficult position, no doubt some U.S. veterans in both wars behaved dishonorably (I keep seeing the convicts from "Taxi to the Dark Side" confessing to beating the tax driver suspect to death, because of their frustration with the kind of information he was giving them), and no doubt Rev. Wright - like Congressman Ron Paul, libertarian Republican candidate for president - is right that 9/11 and opposition to the United States occurs partly because of opposition to - and jealously about - U.S. economic and military power - sometimes mis- applied - around the world and opposition to secular Hollywood culture and the consumer culture industry amd - in another way - the massive amount of economic power we have begun to cede to oil-producing countries and countries which have bought up our debt. You won't ever catch Senator Obama - or probably Senator Clinton - saying these things - and - perhaps trying out a new-ish speech, perhaps with a dull, indoors crowd in a state he may lose badly, and perhaps with a mangled set of ideas and slogans that represent him pivoting further to take on attacks from the (Republican and Clinton) right about his association with Rev. Wright and a former Weather Underground activist (not to mention Obama's name) - I thought - for once - his speech wasn't as good as Clinton's outdoor. Perhaps Obama - in Louisville, instead of in Charleston, WV - was in more friendly territory and soared more effectively (as he did 1 1/2 years ago when I saw him at Slugger Field). Of course, Clinton has her own set of problems - primarily doing with math, but also with baggage - but today, in Clinton country in West Virginia - she overcome them. (If Chelsea keeps practicing - she visited three Eastern Kenucky on behalf of her mother today - maybe she'll be ready to run for public office.) (The Democrats got a rare electoral politics lift today when former Republican Congressman Bob Barr - who tormented President Clinton 10 years ago as a House impeachment manager - promised to pick up where Rep. Paul has (started to leave) left off, by running for President as a Libertarian, likely siphoning some votes from McCain, and counterbalancing the drain on Obama or Clinton votes that go to independent Ralph Nader. My friend Brink argues that libertarians should back the Democrats because the Republican Party, under President Bush, has become the party of big government (gigantic budget deficit) and big brother (Bush Administration's assault on individual rights masquerading as a war on terror).)

P.S. And, indeed, from the excerpts I just saw of Obama's standing-room-only speech before a 10,000-plus roaring biracial Louisville audience, he did fare better here, just a couple of blocks from my office building.