Contrary to my first intent, I've decided to offer brief commentary on all three nights of the 2012 DNC. Last night Barack Obama delivered his acceptance speech for his candidacy for President. He covered the points he needed to, and there were several memorable moments. But his oratory wasn't as sweeping or inspiring as it was in 2008. Perhaps four years in office does that to you. In any event, here is his address.
What I found remarkable, as has been true throughout the convention, was the diversity in the audience ~ by age, gender, ethnicity. And that audience was fired up for Obama. If he can regain his 2008 momentum among women, blacks, Latinos, independents, and younger voters, he'll stand a very good chance of taking the election.
The voters seem to be even more polarized this year. On Facebook I've come across diatribes against Obama that verged on being rabid ~ devoid of factual content, toxic with empty Tea Party rhetoric. On the other hand, I've also seen diatribes against Mitt Romney that are just as emphatic. The difference lies in the evidence backing up the claims of each side. Anti-Romney appeals, such as his opposition to insurers paying for birth control medications, and his intent to defund Planned Parenthood, are based on Romney's own campaign rhetoric. One blogger went so far as to document 533 lies Romney told in 30 weeks.
It would be much tougher to provide evidence for lies told by Obama, but that hasn't stopped the far right from trotting out tired old accusations like whether Obama is actually a U.S. citizen, whether he is a secret Muslim, et al. Still, Romney's core of support is just as fervant as Obama's, so it may take an independent panel of fact-checkers to sort things out. In the meantime, the show goes on.
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