By Gregor Peter Schmitz in Denver
The two couples joined hands and marched forward to the very edge of the stage -- not unlike actors after a successful theater performance basking in the cheers of their audience. Joe Biden and his wife Jill, Barack Obama and Michelle. Fireworks exploded in the sky above them while over a dozen neon signs in Denver's Invesco Field displayed the names on the newly-crowned Democratic ticket: Obama/Biden. The stadium was filled to capacity and 80,000 people stood cheering. Michelle and Barack embraced and whispered into each others ears.
And they certainly had a lot to talk about. Hardly an hour before, just after 8 p.m., Barack Obama uttered a sentence which will immortalize him as America's first-ever African-American presidential nominee: "With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States." Many in the audience still had tears in their eyes well after Obama finished speaking -- others, like talk show star Oprah Winfrey, couldn't stop crying. Indeed, despite the on-stage performance, the atmosphere was less theater-like and much more like a rock concert.
They were, in fact, images that could make Obama's campaign strategists nervous. The Obama team is aware that the Republicans are trying to turn Obama's star status against him. The GOP has already compared Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears in television ads -- and they have derided him as a "celebrity."
It is an accusation that Obama has done his best to counter. And in his acceptance speech on Thursday night, he spoke at length about his grandmother who raised him. Despite the fact that she was consistently passed over for promotions because she was a woman, Obama said, she did everything she could to help him succeed. "I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead," Obama thundered. "But this has been mine. These are my heroes."
His life. His heroes. That is what Thursday evening in Denver was supposed to be about. It wasn't intended to merely be a night of fiery rhetoric and impressive images. Obama did not want to present himself to his audience in the stadium -- and especially to the 40 million television viewers watching from home -- as a political rock star. Rather he wanted to be seen as a completely normal American.
That became all the more obvious in the video shown before his speech. It began with shots of the Kansas cornfields where his mother lived. She played the leading role in the short film while his Kenyan father, who Obama only met once, hardly got a mention at all. There were also scenes of his wedding day with Michelle and of him playing cards with his children. He spoke into the camera about honesty, respect, faith and friendship. He talked about the value of hard work.
The images of him as a simple family man from America's heartland contrasted sharply with the huge columns that surrounded Obama on the stage -- a set that McCain's advisors ridiculed as "Obama's Temple."
Less Rock Star, More Substance
More contradictions came throughout the evening. The organizers arranged for Stevie Wonder to play for the spectators, who began streaming into the stadium six hours ahead of Obama's speech. Jennifer Hudson from "Dream Girls" sang the national anthem. Between sets of songs, the stadium screens showed man-on-the-street interviews with ordinary voters from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and New Mexico. They wore unpretentious red and white plaid shirts; they had diabetes or they worried about the price of pharmaceuticals. And Obama wasn't introduced by Al Gore -- Nobel prize winner, ex-Vice President, and maybe the biggest celebrity among the Democrats -- but by an unknown senator from Illinois.
Obama knew he had to avoid the impression of a royal coronation. Too many fellow Democrats have worried that the rock-star image might hurt him at the ballot box. They'd been asking more and more when his message of "change" would take concrete shape.
Obama made a fair effort: About 20 minutes into his speech he hollered "Enough!" -- much louder than ever before in his speeches. The context was rising bills for ordinary people, cars and gas prices floating out of reach, sinking values of family homes. He talked about somebody's sick aunt, who had to battle with her insurance provider on her deathbed. He sketched a dire picture of the energy crisis -- and promised to set a "10 year" goal to wean America from Middle Eastern oil. He also promised to lower taxes for 95 percent of the American middle class.
Naturally the candidate -- fresh back from holidays -- was vague on many points, and naturally much of the speech repeated what he's already said on the campaign trail. But he did take off the gloves in this speech, which many Democrats were hoping for: He attacked his rival John McCain. Obama repeated that the onetime prisoner of war had honorably served his country. He even said McCain was not a cold-hearted Republican with regard to the needs of ordinary Americans. "I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans," he said. "I just think he doesn't know." These attacks could have been sharper and more detailed: McCain -- a US senator for decades, married to the millionaire daughter of a wealthy beer distributor -- may in fact no longer be familiar with the economic woes of ordinary voters.
During the 45-minute speech Obama kept referring to his Republican rival by name, and he kept linking him with the hated President Bush. "Eight is enough," hollered Obama, meaning eight years of Bush-style Republicanism. "John McCain has voted with President Bush 90 percent of the time," he said. "I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a 10 percent chance on change."
'He Looked Like a Rock Star, Not Like a Statesman'
The Democrat even ventured to attack his rival on his strongest flank -- foreign policy. On terrorism: "John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell -- but he won't even go to the cave where he lives." On Iraq and al-Qaida: "You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in 80 countries by occupying Iraq."
Almost 40 minutes went by before Obama even mentioned civil rights legend Martin Luther King Jr. "We cannot walk alone," Obama said, channelling King. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back." From Obama's mouth, though, the words sounded like those of an inspirational presidential candidate -- not like those of a civil rights activist who had just made racial history.
That didn't change the excitement of the Democrats at the end of their convention. From the speakers boomed the song "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now." The relief could be felt once the concerns over the role of the Clintons were over. At the beginning of his speech, Obama thanked Hillary and Bill Clinton effusively. But he also made it clear: the undisputed head of the Democratic Party is named Barack Obama.
The Republicans seem concerned about the enthusiasm level. John McCain seemed conciliatory -- and recognized the historic evening of his African-American rival. Instead of stealing the show by announcing his vice-presidential pick, McCain aired a TV ad in which he said directly into the camera: "Tomorrow, we'll be back at it. But tonight, Senator, job well done."
Still, not long later Republican strategists were trying out new attacks on CNN. So much excitement over a politician was suspicious, they suggested. "He seemed like a rock star, not like a statesman," McCain supporter Ben Stein said mockingly.
Republicans needn't worry about their candidate. At a big rally in Ohio on Friday, McCain will celebrate his 72nd birthday by announcing a vice-presidential candidate. There are lots of tickets left.
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