like hope, but different.

That title reminds of me of the slogan Hillary was trying out for a spell that was something like "change through experience". But enough about Hillary. Please. Last Tuesday, after Obama and McCain swept their respective 3 primaries, MSNBC played three speeches: Clinton, Obama, and McCain, in that order. They played part of the typically grating Clinton stump speech where she talked about her Texas roots (?), and then cut it off in favor of pundit analysis; then they played Obama's victory speech in its entirety, running over the beginning of McCain's victory speech; when he was done, they went over to the remainder of the McCain speech. Never has a contrast between 2 candidates been so vividly juxtaposed as it was in that transition. [the Obama vid is long but worth it]




Obama was like a rock star sending shivers through the stadium and the tv and internet tubes. Man, that guy can speak. Then they switched over to McCain reading off the teleprompter, sounding like the guy from the Werther's Originals commercials, like Wilford Brimley without the gravitas (and the oatmeal), and surrounded by the senior citizen brigade. I hate to be age-ist here, but c'mon, dude. Seriously? Was this set in a white nursing home in Virginia?






It was like stepping out of the sauna and into an ice bath. And the pundits couldn't pretend otherwise and marveled at the difference. Chris Matthews (and yes, I am somewhat ashamed that I was watching a show that was co-hosted by Chris Matthews) actually said that Obama's speech sent a "feeling up his leg". (I don't even have a joke for this one.) Anyways, I was still impressed by the impact of the contrast of the two speeches a couple days later, when I read a dailykos report on a Wall Street Journal writer's opposite reaction to the stark contrast of the two speeches. The WSJ writer, Dan Henninger, was moved by McCain's "upward, positive" message in opposition to the politics of Obama which "relentlessly pushes victimology". This man is detached from reality. Get help, Dan. We need you back here on planet Earth. For what, I have no idea, but I'm sure someone somewhere needs you not to be on Neptune.

Some other folks chose to highlight the contrast between Obama and McCain, by collecting musicians and actors to sing/speak in dramatic fashion along with their speeches. Here's Obama's version of hope:



and here's McCain's:



like hope, but different.