Obama And The Third Rail

I really had no choice but watch The Speech. It was a bonafide news event, there were "expectations", there was drama, and in the end, this had all the mystique of an Oscar broadcast. Just a lot shorter.

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First, let's address the hype. Could he pull it off? Could he meet expectations? Of course he could. This "event" may have been rather unique when it comes to politics, but as far as an entertainment event, it was nothing really out of the ordinary. Last night's Invesco production was scripted down to the last timed firework. The Academy Awards has more "drama" as we never know which actor will go off script. That was not going to happen. Every shot was framed nicely before the director gave the "take" order to the technical director. What we saw was not by accident. This was Hollywood in Denver. And as for the speech's substance…? The Barack Obama I saw last night attempted to do two things: look presidential while being inspirational. Not that tall a task when you don't have to ad lib. But Obama may have stepped on the "third rail" of politics last night and that may not play well with a portion of the electorate. By coming down hard on John McCain, which he needed to do as a candidate, he also showed disrespect to an elder.

It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.

Remember how most politicos tip toe around any issue involving the senior citizens. They are one of the most engaged voting blocks in the nation. As Obama has enveloped himself in the hype that is the "youth movement", he forgot that he's running against Grandpa. In doing so, you show disrespect at your own peril. Obama walked the line of citing McCain's service to his country, and ended his citations with a big "BUT". This will not play well in Middle America. Our nation's youth believes it's all about them, but tell you what: if I was running against someone who was old enough to be my grandfather, I wouldn't be calling him out like a homie.

Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know.

That may be what Barack Obama thinks, but in reality, John McCain's life experience is beyond anything Obama can comprehend. Barack Obama has never been through basic training. Barack Obama has never been deployed for weeks and months at a time away from his friends and family. Barack Obama has never been captured behind enemy lines and held hostage for years. Barack Obama has never served as a congressman. Barack Obama has only been in the United States Senate a fraction of the time as John McCain and has no bill with his name on it. But Obama assumes he knows more.

Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to change America.

As you know I'm only defending McCain now out of a lack of options, but when Obama stopped us all in our tracks last night when he shouted "Enough", I'm thinking "Who the hell does he think he's talking to?" Who is this "us"? Those of his generation that were in tears at the spectacle they were witnessing, literally "on high"? Barack Obama need remember where he (and many of his followers) was in 1992. We've heard all this before. A young, idealistic Bill Clinton ran against an elder. Clinton, like Obama, promised a Middle Class tax cut. Mere days after winning the election, and weeks before he took the oath, Bill Clinton decided that promise was one he wouldn't keep and said as much. Newsflash to the "youth": candidates make promises they are in little control of making good on. The candidates know this. Older voters know this. Welcome to the real world.

As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.

As I've said many times before, if Obama was running for King, he may be able to make good on those promises. Even if he does have a Democrat House and Senate to work with (and that's a big IF considering the defiant bumbling of Nancy Pelosi), will they give him everything he wants? Bill Clinton didn't get it in '92. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick had a super-Democrat-majority who made it very clear who was in charge once he was seated. All the grandiose promises may get the politically ignorant to stand up and cheer, but by delivering his Sermon on the Mount, he may have lifted the bar too high, and his inexperienced minions will be very disappointed when he can't deliver. Remember how betrayed they felt when he went and burned them on many of their issues last summer? While we know political realities, his know-it-all lemmings were in a daze. "How could he do this to us?" Children, you ain't seen nothing yet. So while the Invesco production went off without a hitch, let's see if the new-and-improved Barack Obama can keep his momentum when there's no production crew there with the sole task of making the "talent" look good. His script now has consequences, a concept his generation has yet to come to grips with.

And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America's promise abroad. 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.

The balls one can exhibit when surrounded by the adoring, and not face-to-face with your opponent. By the way, John McCain has been around and talked with many Commanders-in-Chief and foreign leaders for years; not just last month. McCain has been able to absorb what kind of temperament and judgment is required for that office. Barack Obama's experience has been to hang around angry has-beens. Not exactly the best examples of temperament and judgment. John McCain challenged Barack Obama to a slew of town hall-style debates; a challenge that was quickly dismissed by Team Obama. And now like Clubber Lang to Rocky Balboa, he's calling McCain out like he was a punk. Many of us remember what happened at the end.

That's not the judgment we need. That won't keep America safe. We need a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.

Tell that to Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. While the Obama's youth movement is being carefully courted, I'd be very interested to see how the older, more experienced, consistent voters respond to Barack Obama's rant. As I said earlier, if I was running against someone much older (and I'm not), I would be forceful in my own right, but would not cross the line into disrespect. Obama's generation consider themselves equals without the life experience to make them so. Maybe it's that entitlement mentality thing again. But Barack Obama touched the third rail last night. We shall soon see if that will result in his now being more grounded, or if he and his generation are now in for the biggest shock of their lives.