After the New Hampshire Primary – “Dr King didn’t just give speeches. He marches. He organised.”
By now, you may have known that Hillary Clinton has narrowly beaten Barack Obama at the New Hampshire Democratic primary. With the Michigan primary due on 15 Jan, attention has, for now, shifted to both candidates’ post-primary speeches – Hillary to accept her nomination and Obama to concede defeat.
Apparently, many were impressed by Obama. Blogger Garr Reynolds even wrote that “his 10-min speech blew me away…Cable news pundits are saying that this concession speech (didn’t sound like a “concession speech”) may be one for the ages.”
Naturally i clicked and watched Obama’s speech. I was impressed but wasn’t convinced. Take a look at it, especially the much touted latter part, and see if you agree with me.
My critique of Obama’s speech
On paper, this was a beautifully scripted speech. It has text-book elements of a good speech. For example, soaring metaphors: “It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights.”
And of cause the much lauded chants of “Yes we can”.
My opinion? It is just that, a piece of good writing presented superbly but nonetheless unconvincing. The key lies in the credibility and stature of the speaker.
Garr Reynolds compared this speech to Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech delivered in front of 210,000 people at the Washington Monument on 28 Aug 1963.
Anyone who speaks of these two speeches in the same breath is seriously insulting Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King could pull it off in 1963 because of the man he was – a proven civil rights leader for the blacks and the underprivileged. By 1963, he WAS the soul of African Americans. What of Barack Obama?
Am i the only person who find Obama’s speech and especially the soaring metaphors contrived?
One more excerpt: “For when we have faced down impossible odds, when we’ve been told we’re not ready or that we shouldn’t try or that we can’t, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes we can…”.
America may be mired in Iraq and facing a possible recession. But these are hardly national crises like the Civil War or even the civil rights upheaval of the 1960s. Such prose is well, a bit too dramatic for my liking.
To be fair, Obama did deliver his speech with poise. But that’s about it.
Hillary Clinton’s acceptance speech – less flair but more convincing
On the other hand, Hillary’s acceptance speech was much more down-to-earth. She speaks like an ordinary American who believes in what she’s doing, not some Abe Lincoln wannabe. An irony because she was supposed to be the aloof and slick politico.
An excerpt:
And we’re going to reform our government. We’re going to make sure that it is not the government of the few, by the few, and for the few, but it actually works for every American again. And we’re going to reclaim the future for our children. I have done this work for 35 years. It is the work of my lifetime.
A simple yet convincing speech, delivered well and most importantly with credibility.
