There was an electric atmosphere inside the Chicago convention centre for Obama. Not Barack, but Michelle. She was the warm-up for her husband but as she proved at the 2016 Democratic Convention with her famous “when they go low, we go high” speech, she is the real orator, not him.
The crowd of 20,000 hung on every one of word of her words.It was a speech of hope, of what could be under a president Kamala Harris. Not the darkness, the “smallness” as she sees it of Donald Trump.”America, hope is making a comeback…” she said, to roars.
“Something wonderfully magical is in the air, isn’t it?” she said “… It’s the contagious power of hope!””We have the power,” she said, “to marry our hope with our actions”.As it happened: Obamas speak at DNCKnown normally for rising above everyday brutality of politics, tonight she addressed the threat from Mr Trump, directly.
“Kamala has shown her allegiance to this nation, not by spewing anger and bitterness, but by living a life of service and always pushing the doors of opportunity open to others, she understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward,” she said.Read more:Obama warns sequel ‘usually worse’ than first movieBiden denies he is angry with Democrats who tried to oust himAn awkward goodbye for a president who didn’t want to go
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Pic: Reuters
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Michelle Obama spoke at day two of the Democratic National Convention. Pic: AP
She drew a constant contrast between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.”If things don’t go our way, we don’t have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead… we don’t get to change the rules so we always win.”If we see a mountain in front of us, we don’t expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top.”For this crowd, each line was a mic-drop moment.”Who is going to tell him that the job he is seeking might just be one of those black jobs,” she said, nodding to Mr Trump’s “black jobs” comment a few weeks ago.Then came him.”I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling fired up,” Mr Obama told the crowd in his hometown.”I am feeling ready to go, even if I am the only person stupid enough to speak after Michelle Obama.”For the crowd it was all a reflection of what has been. Some certainly wishing America didn’t have term limits.A jolt of deja-vu ran through the place.
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Michelle Obama addresses the crowd. Pic: AP
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Obama quotes Lincoln in DNC speech
There was a salute to President Biden and his “decency”.”We came from different backgrounds but we became brothers,” he said, reflecting on their eight years in the White House.”We remember Joe Biden as an outstanding president who defended democracy at a moment of great danger,” Mr Obama said.”Thank you Joe!” the crowd chanted.There was effusive praise for Kamala Harris.”This convention,” he said, “has always been pretty good to kids with funny names who believe that in this country anything is possible.”
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Pic: AP
The speech was peppered with memorable, “memeable” one-liners delivered with Obama panache.It’s all part of the messaging. To get the message of the Democrats, and the hope they believe Kamala Harris offers, out there on every platform, in every palm.”We do not need four more years of chaos…” he said. “We have seen that movie before, and we all know that the sequel is usually worse.”You have to wonder though if Team Trump will seize on that gag for themselves, after all they frame Mr Biden’s past four years as the chaotic ones.
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As he listed the rot he associates with Donald Trump the crowd booed.”Do not boo. Vote,” he said, almost angry.There was something else too. The flow, the beat and the messaging from the Obamas exposed the fact that Joe Biden has not been a good communicator.He is not the orator that they are, and effective messaging goes a long way in politics. But beyond that, Mr Biden’s doomsday-looped warning of the existential threat he sees in Mr Trump has, maybe, become just noise for the electorate.The Obamas clearly think the American people need a different message – of hope. That’s what they delivered tonight.