Final Day of the Democratic Convention

I was deeply moved by the speech of Rep. John Lewis who did the introduction to the tribute to Martin Luther King jr. Rep Lewis is the last living main speaker from the March on Washington.

(Although Dr. Irene Height... one of my sorors/former president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc... was also on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March and Washington and is still alive and was present at the convention today)

Jennifer Hudson's rendition of the national anthem was absolutely beautiful

LOL... side note: I love Spike Lee, when interviewed by MSNBC about what he thought about Barack Obama, he said "I think history will be defined as B.B. and A.B... Before Barack and After Barack..."

I know ya'll are going to want to burn me at the stake for this... lol... but I really didn't get into Stevie's first song... don't get me wrong... I LOVE me some Stevie Wonder, but I just think his song choice was lacking... However, in typical Stevie fashion he proceeded to bring the house down :-)

Unfortunately I don't think the live version of will.i.am's "yes we can video" worked out very well...

Al Gore's speech was so poignant and so powerful... the comparisons he made between the critical nature of this election and his 2000 election really struck a cord with me...

One thing that I can't help but be amazed by, is the way in which all the major Democratic heavyweights... both Clintons, the Kennedys, Al Gore and John Kerry... are all coming out to support Barack Obama... a black man... in such a big way... I know most of you are like... "well they don't have any choice... he is the party nominee." But think about it... this time last year, the chances of this occuring seemed next to impossible... but the people spoke and the party was forced to let go of their "chosen daughter" and listen to the voices of the primary voters... I don't know about you... but I continue to be awed by the power in that....

John McCain's rinky dink commercial congratulating Obama on his nomination had absolutely no purchase for me... After teasing the media relentlessly about his VP pick in the middle of the Democratic Convention and the loads of petty and childish commercials (which had absolutely nothing to do with politics) that hes been shoving down my throat for the last three days... McCain has made it clear that Obama isn't the one who has no idea what he is doing... I'm predicting it now... once the debates start... any gains McCain has made are going out the window....

It's amazing... Obama managed to draw 90,000 people to Mile High Stadium... McCain is having a hard time convincing 10,000 people to show up to his acceptance speech... yet somehow pundits are describing this as a problem for Obama?

Lets be honest... McCain is the media darling... he absolutely gets away with anything and everything... How is it after weeks of negative commercials, he all of a sudden is "gracious and classy".... ??!!

Onto pleasanter things...

I did think it was appropriate for Sen Dick Durbin to introduce Obama... those democrats love them some symbolism huh?

But onto the most important part of the night....

I LOVED Obama's speech... he did absolutely everything he needed to do. Like Micheal Eric Dyson told Wolf Blitzer on CNN prior to the speech... the trademark of agreat orator is to draw the audience in emotionally, and then to lay out the meat and potatoes of his political policy... and that is exactly what Obama did...

He described himself in a way that everyone... regardless of race or class could identify with... from talking about growing up with a single mother to his and Michelle's struggle with student loans... it would be ridiculous for McCain (with his seven houses) to think about calling Obama an elitest...

and yes... his discussion of individual responsibility and the necessity of "fatherhood" did make me a bit squirmish... but I did appreciate his ability to link issues and to make an arguement about how folks from both sides of the aisle can begin to see eye to eye on issues like domestic benefits and abortion...

And he finally REALLY critized John McCain!!!

My favorite lines?

"this election isn't about me... this election is about you..."

"at the defining moments of history... change didn't come from Washington, it came to Washington"

"I don't know about you... but I'm not willing to take a 10% chance on change"

and lastly...

"America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise - that American promise - and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess..."

That scripture is actually from Hebrews 10:23. The full quotation is as follows (international standard version):
Let us continue to hold firmly to the hope that we confess without wavering, for the one who made the promise is faithful.

peace.