Obama Bomb
Okay, so the other day I was watching on C-SPAN the rally in St. Louis for Claire McCaskill. A number of local Democrats, many of the energetic and excited, bumped up the crowd. Claire was the second to last speaker, and she really got the crowd worked up – even I got excited from my living room in Virginia!
And then Barack Obama, the star Senator, came on last. He spoke for 20 minutes. He droaned on about how he came up with the title for his book (“The Audacity of Hope”) and told an anecdote about a 105-year-old who wished him luck on the campaign trail. And on, and on…
I’m sorry, I loved his convention speech, I think his ideas and vision are the kinds of things the country needs after 6-8 years of Rovian cynicism and division.
But I thought he basically was a weak finale to an otherwise good rally.
At this rally, I think he bombed. Maybe he’ll do better next year in Iowa and New Hampshire. But his 2008 campaign, if that is the reason behind his last-minute rallies, is not off to a good start in my opinion.
He may not have knocked your socks off at the rally in St. Louis, but I had an opportunity to hear his remarks in Milwaukee just prior to the election, and I have to say he was very charismatic. He very much seemed like someone who has the “it” factor that could propel him to the top of the Democratic presidential field in ’08.