We all sat around the room at my sister’s house, postponing dinner for nearly an hour. Our ages ranging from 1.5 years to 87, tweenagers and a teenager, thirty-somethings and forty-somethings and sixty-somethings, and we all of us watched, only the 1.5 year old not riveted.
I am so proud that this may be my daughter’s first recollectable memory.
* [Later note]: Much commentary today about a lot. Some distraction, certainly, by the Hail Mary VP choice by McCain (if I asked my daughter to spell “desperate,” and she spelled out P-a-l-i-n, I wouldn’t correct her, let’s put it that way).
This piece, “Witnessing History” by Devilstower on DailyKos, was touching. A very nice detail.
One of my favorite bits of commentary was “When You Grow Up…” by brownsox on DailyKos, who wraps up a piece on the mythologizing about Democratic disunity (yup: another corporate media plot!) this way:
The true tragedy of the obsession with party divisions is that it diminishes the power of a genuinely magic moment. Our country has been waiting decades, centuries even, for the moment when the most successful female candidate in history would pass the baton to the most successful African-American candidate in history, a candidate whose ascension to the Democratic nomination for the presidency will stand forever as a symbol of everything that is best about America and the American dream.
This convention has been the cathartic conclusion of a primary campaign which has forever changed the face of American politics. It marked the end of nearly two hundred and twenty years of American history during which middle-aged white men have had a virtual stranglehold on the Oval Office. It has not simply cracked glass ceilings for women and minorities, it has shattered them.
Last night proved to every fourth-grader in the country that they really can be anything they want to be when they grow up, and it was the Democratic party and Democratic voters that have made this possible. It is a moment that should make every Democrat – every American – tingle.
Last night, Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States and catapulted the party into the general election with one of the finest political speeches ever given. Take a step back and think about the significance of this event. One has to wonder if those who refuse to let the story of Democratic disunity die, simply cannot appreciate this moment for what it is, regardless of party.
And if they cannot, pity on them. It’s likely that most of us remembered to tingle.
I was *just* thinking this today about my own! My girls know his name, his voice, his face. Bella never just says ‘Mommy that’s Barack Obama!’, she says ‘Mommy! That’s our next President: Barack Obama!’
I hope that this is something she remembers forever. It’ll be great to tell her that the two most important men on TV to her were Justin Timberlake and Barack Obama. LOL
I think Gvr Palin is a very dangerous pick. I’m sure this Tina Fey lookalike will go down a treat, among a lot of voters, Republicans and Democrats alike. From a safe distance (i.e., over here in ‘old’ Europe), she looks like a great choice for people who do not bother to inform herself about what she stands for. A tough cookie (likes to hunt, commercial fisherwoman, etc.) with a pretty face. Both candidates now seem to have chosen the yin to their yang. I really do think that McCain waited to see if Barack Obama would select Hillary Rodham Clinton as is his running mate. I wish November was past us already.
I’m with you on wishing it were November 5th already. There’s a lot to find out about how deeply voters research Palin (creationist anti-choicer who tanked the finances of the small town she was mayor of, up until two years ago when she became governor of Alaska) but her experience is a fraction of Obama’s, and she is by no means capable of assuming the presidency, should the need arise (McCain would be the oldest president to enter to office, were he elected).
I agree, an excruciatingly dispiriting quantity of American voters (themselves, for far too long, a minority of the populace) don’t research nearly enough before they vote. However. I’m hoping that, given the gravity of world events, it’ll be just too damn scary to have such a neophyte in the wings.