we can make change happen.

I am a little late (day after) to talk about Obama's speech but I DO NOT believe a speech like his last night can be OVERSHADOWED by Mccain's VP pick, even though it has been. But last night's speech left me an impression that like my AP Government said, "his speech is a speech you will remember for the rest of your life". I do not know if everyone felt that way (probably not), but a connection was made for me when I heard his speech last night.

Well I have been of course watching majority of the Democratic National Convention so of course the previous speakers (Hilary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Michelle Obama, etc) had set a very high bar for Barack Obama. Finally, it was his turn to convince the people that he is the right person. There is only so much others can say to endorse him but it is up to him to impress and swing the voters in his favor. And I believe he did his job. Hilary Clinton was able to tell her former supporters that they should not swing Republican. Biden assured us that Obama is a good man and Biden did swing many more voters in Obama's favor. I didn't really want to talk about Biden's speech but I DID LIKE IT! I don't know but I just like Biden by looking at him. And he had a great personal story. He made me love him after his speech.

However, in the beginning of Obama's speech, I was kind of bored. He seemed to have a VERY SLOW start and said a lot of cliches and kind of summed up what everyone said in the last couple days. But somewhere, I don't know where but it just PICKED UP and just started getting better, and better and I was on the edge of my seat. AT ONE POINT, I stood up because I was overwhelmed and amazed by his words. Of course I teared up at several points in his speech but I think I teared up in every speech (except Bill Clinton's). The things that struck to me the most was when he had one point where he talked about his family. He said

Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton's Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.

In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.

What struck me about that quote was he was implying that back then, his family struggled but America helped them out, but why can America no longer help us now? He reminded me that

Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves - protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.

I know that being an American, we don't always expect the government to be there. We like to keep a distance from our government but at this time, this period, we need our government desperately. I see the economy, homes, families, and people crumbling before me. I know of the problems that exist in this country and Obama does too and he has pinpointed and addressed every one of them.

And the thing that Obama definetly did what he needed to do was ATTACK McCain ("If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.") and give us SUBSTANCE. And he brought that last night. He showed us that he is ready for the fight, he is ready for those debates with Mccain. And last night, he finally told us what he wanted to do. Although he may have been too specific because of course I questioned where is he going to get the money when we are in a trillion dollar deficit but of course, Mccain is going to have the same problem also. But Obama did a good job of attack Mccain in the right points. It is because of his status quo and that he "doesnt understand" is why he cannot be the right person for the job.

And what I loved most was he brought up this is more about partisan politics (democrats vs. republicans), this is more about abortion (pro-life vs. pro-choice), it is about the common ground, is about the common American goals in life and we need to get back to it. We need to get back to the original ideals of democracy.

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

He addressed every issue that we talk about amongst ourselves. Every time he hit an issue that I have discussed with a friend or a family member or a stranger, I though wow he really does know. Once he started talking about the common effort, he just soared from there. And when he talked about all these things and when he said

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.

I felt proud to be an American. And I think during these times when America has such a bad reputation, when everyone has been making fun our own president, when our own citizens cannot even take pride in our president, and when our own soldiers are fighting a hated war, American patriotism has been waning since the great masses of it during Sept. 11th but Obama brought it back to me. I seriously am proud to be an American because through the American dream and the freedoms in this country that someone like Barack Obama can be president and I will be even prouder when he is President. He is reminded me this country is made of individuals united in one effort for our American democracy and ideals. And he has reminded the voters that they all count and the government is there for them. He tied everything that from change, to the American dream, and the promise of America all into his speech and he did it well.

I have greater hope for this country after his speech. And if Obama does not get elected, I will be truely sad for the future of this country.

Oh and I am not going to post the video because it is like 40 minutes long so you can see it on the democratic national convention website or ny times.

Oh and thoughts on the Republicans. I think Mccain would have a better chance with Rominey (though he couldnt because he was too rich) but who the heck is this random woman? Like they said on CNN or whatever (my mom told me this quote), you cant just put a skirt on someone and expect her to be Hilary Clinton. She barely has experience and honestly, if Mccain dies, would you want her to be president? This is a very bad choice for Mccain. I think his VP choice is going to PULL votes away from him. It is already evident that some Republicans are going to vote for Obama because either they liked Obama's speech or because they like Biden. At least if Obama was to get "assassinated" (knock on wood), Biden would be a great president. I am excited for the Republican National Convention! I want to hear this obsure Alaskan governor speak!!!! And Mccain. I actually liked Mccain back in the primaries so lets see if I still like him.

And why am I so interested in the democratic national convention? Because in AP government we have had like at least 30 minute discussions in class about them and they have been EXCITING and i love hear other people's opinions so of course all I have said in this blog, I talked about in class and a lot of people felt similar to me.

I glad I have watched the Democratic National Convention because I feel like this is a moment in history. Watching Obama made me want to cry because I thought of him being president and that is just so historic that I could not even imagine it. It is truely amazing what a revolution this election year is. And I am SAD I CANNOT VOTE AND BE APART OF IT. But I am so glad I witnessed his speech last night because I WILL not forget what he said and I cannot believe for those who did not watch it that they missed such a great opportunity to be truely enlightened.

AND IF ANYONE DISAGREES WITH ME GO AHEAD, I want to hear your response and thoughts. :) I am a friendly debater.

---ck.

hilary clinton is one strong woman.

Again, I want to discuss my thoughts and opinions about the Democratic National Convention and today I saw Hilary Clinton's speech. That was pretty much the only reason I tuned in today because I wanted to see how she would endorse Obama. Everyone knows Clinton has been a big Obama basher throughout her campaign (maybe even more than attacking Mccain?) and how could she just turn around and say "obama is soooo great, vote for him!".

Well I noticed there was a major standing ovation for her in the beginning. She couldn't even start her speech until at least five minutes passed because people would not shut up. Was it me or was Michelle Obama looked a little stiff lipped while smiling after like five minutes of people not quieting down and cheering Clinton? Well her goal was pretty much supposed to solidify the Democratic party and remind voters that they need to stick together and vote BLUE regardless if they are a hardcore Clinton fan. And there were quite a FEW hardcore Clinton fans (probably 60% women), my mom is a major Clinton fan too. Overall her speech was okay. She did not mention Obama lot and I don't think she really secured that he was the right choice. But I do like the direction she took in her speech. Instead of being cheesy and praising Obama (like the other hundred speakers...), she stated that

"I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?"

Her speech's purpose was to remind the Democratic Clinton fans that they need to vote because of their beliefs, the changes they want, and not because whether or not they love the presidential candidate. So I am a cheesy person and I did like her personal touches of the couple stories she mentioned her speech like the woman who adopted two autistic children and had cancer and the marine. It is just one of those American things that I can't help falling for. And she tried to highlight that we vote for the "issues" not for the person.

I think she somewhat accomplished the goal of reminding the Clinton fans that they are there for the support of their party. But she did not give the confidence that Obama is the person who can accomplish it all. But I am okay with that because I would have felt she would be a hypocrite if she did. But I think her speech mostly spoke out to her fans. And it was more of thank you message and message to say "please don't vote for mccain or not vote at all because i am not the candidate". But honestly, Clinton was a confident speaker. I think she does have that confident, presidential swagger.

"No way. No how. No McCain."

But to talk about hardcore Clinton fans; CNN interviewed this one lady and she was a HARDCORE fan and she was tearing up talking about Clinton and that she was sad that she saw a real president up there. And she said she did not know what she will do because she was DEFINETLY not going to vote for Mccain but she was not confident in Obama's abilities and she believed in experience and he was not experienced. She said she was very undecided if she was going to vote. And interesting fact...she was African-American.


I think the youth needs to be more interested in politics so I hope I educated some interest in someone. My AP government class has just started (second day of school -___-) and he encourages a lot that we watch the news and keep up to date in politics and it has definetly boosted my interest. And plus it is sooo fun to participate in class discussion about politics. It really fires me up. But I am just a dork like that.

-- ck.

michelle obama, my hero.

So I am one nerdy kid but I watched the Democratic National Convention and the one highlight of the entire convention was Michelle Obama's speech. I had never really heard her speak because I am not an avid follower of the elections but I do keep up to date once in awhile on the presidential candidates. Although I have had a strong leaning toward Barack Obama since primary season, I wasn't exactly sure if he was the "capable" candidate but watching Michelle Obama's speech made me admire the qualities of the Obama family and Barack Obama as a future president.

Her speech literally made me tear up and CRY at some moments. Well I can emotional when watching things on tv but her sincerity and her speech that was straight from the heart--not just something written by some behind the scenes political speech writer-- and it made me tear up. Well I also teared up at the dedication to Ted Kennedy even though I barely know who he is besides that he is a senator. But Michelle Obama's speech truely touched me. Throughout the speech I was thinking "oh maybe this is some ploy to get the voters with that pathos (emotional) appeal" but when she was telling the story of her childhood and her career and her husband's, I realized that Michelle and Barack Obama truely care for their community, their country and the people around them. And even though they could have had prosperous careers in law, they first decided to give back to their community and help others. To me that is a great thing because I would do the same thing. I could feel their strong sense of helping others. And what I loved about her speech was that she was confident, calm and so real. Other previous speeches were just citizens or other delegates promoting Barack Obama through their experiences or what they saw in him. And although they were regular citizens, I did not connect without because their speeches seemed very pre-planned and impersonal, but Michelle Obama's was so personal. And the fact that her and her husband both came from blue-collar families and were able to prosper on their own, it truely touched and illustrated the American dream.

"And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree with them."

"They'll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming."

"Barack stood up that day, and spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about "The world as it is" and "The world as it should be." And he said that all too often, we accept the distance between the two, and settle for the world as it is - even when it doesn't reflect our values and aspirations. But he reminded us that we know what our world should look like. We know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. And he urged us to believe in ourselves - to find the strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be. And isn't that the great American story?"

I really wish I could vote. The best part of her speech that struck me was when she talked about how Barack wanted to remind us that we often accept the world as it is even if we don't like it, but we need to learn to NOT settle for that and change the world to how WE WANT IT TO BE LIKE.

I do not care if others don't like Barack Obama for his lack of details, his lack of experience, those words and ideals of his struck a chord in me. And I believe in him.

---ck

p.s. i cant wait to see how the republican national convention will change my mind. can you beat that mccain?