"In Four Months We Will Have an Administration that Actually Believes in Science!"

Some thoughts after deliriously blogging at Midnight last night…Maybe it was silly of me to expect anything different, but I am realizing that the Democratic National Convention is just a huge pep-rally. The speakers (for the most part) are vibrant, passionate and animated. The Pepsi Center is filled with democratic cheerleaders. In my “introduction blog” I said that I would report Obama’s and the Democratic Party’s stance on issues related to young people and Ohioans, but let’s be honest here… no one is talking specifics. Many general broad statements are made. In almost every speech you can find the “everyone deserves healthcare” war cry but no explanations on how that will exactly be implemented. Now, I know we can all do Google searches or go directly to Barack Obama’s website: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/ or http://www.barackobama.com/issues/education/ for extensive information on his platform on healthcare and education but why aren’t the politicians here talking about these things specifically? Are we not trusted to understand these “complex” issues? Maybe it’s simply that people don’t care… which is probably true in many situations… but here you have thousands of people waiting for opportunities to cheer… the Obama campaign must be afraid to stir up controversy.

Watch Michelle Obama’s Speech: http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/michelle

I am in a very unique situation here at the conventions (non-profit worker by day, journalist by night). I know it sounds glamorous… But I am lucky to be here with European co-workers who have a fascinating perspective. I wanted to share with you the experience I’ve had with them. Two German co-workers of mine sat next to me during the nightly speeches. They were completely blown away by the whole convention experience. They said that after something like this, it was hard not to fall in love with America. They said that this was “unbelievable” and that “you would never see anything like this in Switzerland or Germany.” The most interesting of all of their observations was this: “THERE IS SO MUCH EMOTION WITH SO FEW FACTS!” I guess that’s not quite what I expected them to say… I thought of course, these are politicians and this is just what politicians do. But I take all of this excitement for granted. They went on to explain that campaigns in Germany are not “openly” sponsored by entities such as Pepsi or Microsoft. Politicians in Germany would not wave around flags or talk about how proud they are to be German. In Germany, there is a huge emphasis on balanced coverage in the public sector. They thought that the partisanship of certain media outlets (Fox, CNN) made the political sphere more interesting and exciting. One of my co-workers said that political speeches in Germany were weighed down with facts and figures, that people were easily bored and that here the speeches are so much more interesting. They were also amazed by Obama’s celebrity status and said “we don’t have celebrities like you do in America… our Paris Hilton is an MTV host,” and that the way Obama is represented would make Germans nervous.

Tuesday Night’s Festivities… The Cult-like Chanting Continues...

Tuesday, August 26 2008: Renewing America's Promise

Highlights:

The Democratic party is really trying to paint McCain as four more years of Bush. There were thousands of signs that read: "McCain More Of The Same."

http://www.themiddleclass.org/bill/lilly-ledbetter-fair-pay-act-2007
Lily Ledbetter, retired Goodyear Tire worker whose sex discrimination complaint was rejected by the supreme court and sparked legislation to overturn that decision, spoke about equal pay for equal work and the necessity of equal rights.

During her speech I couldn't help but think of the "abortion trucks" that have been driving around Denver all weekend with incredibly disturbing "shock value" pictures and a large "God Have Mercy on Us!" plastered across them. This is a very sensitive issue that involves very passionate people and I won't go into "choice" politics... but I will say that it reminded me of how important family planning and education are (interpret at your own risk) and how far women in America have come because of our democracy... and also how far we have to go...

Gov. Mark Warner (VA) was the keynote speaker tonight and while he had a few strong quotes, I found him rather disappointing. He began by talking about how the "race for the future is on" and how important energy policy is... the funny thing about politicians talking about energy independence is that they throw a lot of fancy terms around and some sketchy figures but have no tangible plan. All people have to say is wind power and electric cars and people are happy. Moral of the story: it's good enough just to talk about energy independence. Near the end of his speech, and actually what I found to be his strongest statement was his declaration that "in four months we will have an administration that actually believes in science!"

OH-IO Gov. Ted Strickland, spoke about Ohio and America's great loss of Stephanie Tubbs Jones and asked us to join him in celebrating her life. She was finally given the respect (that I personally think) she deserves. With all of the election coverage, her tragic death was barley covered at lease where I live in D.C.

Strickland followed the others in making fun of McCain and Bush. He said that after Bill Clinton, "George W. Bush came into office on 3rd base and then he stole 2nd!" Strickland believes that Obama will "make college affordable" and he said that"there's more than hope in these ideas, there's jobs." Obama will "bring our jobs back and bring our troops home."

Sen. Hillary Clinton, had the final word tonight and threw her support to Obama. (People here are still nervous that her delegates may not do the same) Now that Clinton is no longer a threat, everyone loves her. She said, "whether you voted for me or Barack, the time to unite is now as a single party with a single purpose." She gave a very regal and typically strong "Hillary Speech." The arena was packed with Hillary signs and supporters.

As I left the Pespsi Center tonight... I thought about my writing classes in college where professors would critique students, encouraging them to show and not tell...

-Sarah Marcus 07'