Barack Obama began the last of three political speeches as Montana polls closed, ending the final primary of the 2008 season. (video; text) His victory rally was at the Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis, where the Republican Convention will be held in early September. The venue was intended to symbolize “taking the fight to the Republicans.” Some noted it was also the location of Walter Mondale’s concession after his disastrous 1984 defeat by Ronald Reagan. Early in his speech, Obama discussed Hillary Clinton:
Senator Hillary Clinton has made history in this campaign not just because she’s a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she’s a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight.
We’ve certainly had our differences over the last sixteen months. But as someone who’s shared a stage with her many times, I can tell you that what gets Hillary Clinton up in the morning — even in the face of tough odds — is exactly what sent her and Bill Clinton to sign up for their first campaign in Texas all those years ago; what sent her to work at the Children’s Defense Fund and made her fight for health care as first lady; what led her to the United States Senate and fueled her barrier-breaking campaign for the presidency — an unyielding desire to improve the lives of ordinary Americans, no matter how difficult the fight may be. And you can rest assured that when we finally win the battle for universal health care in this country, she will be central to that victory. When we transform our energy policy and lift our children out of poverty, it will be because she worked to help make it happen. Our party and our country are better off because of her, and I am a better candidate for having had the honor to compete with Hillary Rodham Clinton.
There are those who say that this primary has somehow left us weaker and more divided. Well I say that because of this primary, there are millions of Americans who have cast their ballot for the very first time. There are independents and Republicans who understand that this election isn’t just about the party in charge of Washington, it’s about the need to change Washington. There are young people, and African Americans, and Latinos, and women of all ages who have voted in numbers that have broken records and inspired a nation.
All of you chose to support a candidate you believe in deeply. But at the end of the day, we aren’t the reason you came out and waited in lines that stretched block after block to make your voice heard. You didn’t do that because of me or Senator Clinton or anyone else. You did it because you know in your hearts that at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — we cannot afford to keep doing what we’ve been doing. We owe our children a better future. We owe our country a better future. And for all those who dream of that future tonight, I say — let us begin the work together. Let us unite in common effort to chart a new course for America.
OK. “Let’s all unite and sing ‘Cumbaya,’” taunt the cynics. Maureen Dowd continues her vituperative attacks on Clinton this morning, and persists in referring to Obama as “Bambi” or “Barry,” raising images of him as naive and emasculated. As far as I can find, Senator Clinton first raised the “naive” suggestion almost a year ago, after a debate in July 2007. John McCain picked up the theme, at least as early as February 2008, and is continuing to espouse this idea.
I don’t believe this is going to work. Obama is neither naive, nor stupid.
America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.
The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth. This was the moment — this was the time — when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.
Nope. He’s neither naive nor stupid. A case could be made for labeling him an “optimist,” a rare breed in American politics lately. The 17 million or so Democrats who voted for him didn’t find him naive. And I don’t believe the majority of the electorate will either. If you doubt that he understand what the people are looking for this election season, be sure to read the full text of both McCain’s and Obama’s speeches. Whatever the party, I think most who honestly appraise them will find that Obama’s change agenda is aligned more closely with this year’s popular will than McCain’s change agenda. Of course the cynics argue that the issues rarely matter in a presidential campaign; what matters is how one side is able to define the other. Not this year. This year too many people are paying attention. This year it will be different. But, of course, I’m an optimist, too!
