Posted by Jed Lewison on Tue Aug 19, 2008 at 11:08 AM Pacific

From Saddleback to the VFW

Over at Daily Kos, DemFromCT has a terrific post up on Obama's VFW speech. I'll admit that I was a bit frustrated to again see Obama speak before a non-friendly crowd, but DemFromCT ably puts things into perspective:

Once again, Obama's task is not to 'win' over a GOP-oriented audience but to show up and be credible. That, he did. And that he keeps going to unfriendly audiences and holding his own is great news for when he actually has to be President of everyone.

...In the end, all these speeches and appearances have less to do with how people vote than party affiliation. As long as there are more Dems than Rs, Obama will do all right for himself, regardless of how these pre-season maneuverings go. But removing the caricature drawn by his opponent by showing up and addressing and engaging the audience is always a plus, and looking to see who gets more applause misses the point entirely.

Combine that with the fact that Obama actually got in some pretty decent shots against McCain in front of a tough crowd, I'm realizing that I can wait to see Obama before a friendly crowd on Thursday.

From Saddleback to the VFW

Over at Daily Kos, DemFromCT has a terrific post up on Obama's VFW speech. I'll admit that I was a bit frustrated to again see Obama speak before a non-friendly crowd, but DemFromCT ably puts things into perspective:

Once again, Obama's task is not to 'win' over a GOP-oriented audience but to show up and be credible. That, he did. And that he keeps going to unfriendly audiences and holding his own is great news for when he actually has to be President of everyone.

...In the end, all these speeches and appearances have less to do with how people vote than party affiliation. As long as there are more Dems than Rs, Obama will do all right for himself, regardless of how these pre-season maneuverings go. But removing the caricature drawn by his opponent by showing up and addressing and engaging the audience is always a plus, and looking to see who gets more applause misses the point entirely.

Combine that with the fact that Obama actually got in some pretty decent shots against McCain in front of a tough crowd, I'm realizing that I can wait to see Obama before a friendly crowd on Thursday.

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