President Barack Obama is being joined by his family after just finishing his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. (video by Lynn Sweet)
President Barack Obama is joined by Vice President Joe Biden and their families on the stage as confetti falls, wrapping up the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. (video by Lynn Sweet)
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(video by Lynn Sweet)
Continue reading Vice President Biden convention speech. Transcript.
Video by Natasha Korecki
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz) won a standing ovation as she carefully walked across the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday.
Then, standing at the center of the stage, with a video of a giant American Flag behind her, Giffords led the arena, packed with some 20,000, in reciting the pledge of allegiance.
Giffords offered a real symbol of "hope" after she survived being shot in the head by a gunman in 2010.
The crowd erupted into applause and cheers as she blew kisses on her way back off the stage.
In the face of the deepest economic crisis in our lifetimes -- this nation proved itself. We're as worthy as any generation that has gone before us.
The same grit, the same determination, the same courage, that has always defined what it's meant to be an American--is in you.
We're on a mission to move this nation forward -- from doubt and downturn, to promise and prosperity.
A mission we will continue and a mission we will complete.
[...]
The two men seeking to lead this country over the next four years have fundamentally different visions, and a completely different value set.
Governor Romney believes that in the global economy, it doesn't much matter where American companies put their money or where they create jobs.
I found it fascinating last week--when Governor Romney said, that as President, he'd take a jobs tour. Well with all his support for outsourcing -- it's going to have to be a foreign trip.
Look, President Obama knows that creating jobs in America -- keeping jobs in America -- and bringing jobs back to America -- is what being President is all about.
...
My fellow Americans, we now find ourselves at the hinge of history.
And the direction we turn is in your hands.
It has been an honor to serve you, and to serve with a President who has always stood up for you.
As I've said, I've seen him tested.
Hours before Thursday's MTV Video Music Awards, the Foo Fighters rocked the music world at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.
Continue reading Foo Fighters rock the arena at the DNC.
(photo by Lynn Sweet)
CHARLOTTE, N.C.--Illinois has prime seats on the Democratic convention floor, and for the Wednesday session labor leaders from the state were front row center. The group pictured above are Tom Balanoff, SEIU and a longtime Obama friend; Toby Trimmer, IFT; Dan Montgomery, IFT president; Tony Garcia, UAW and Ron McInroy, UAW president.
President Bill Clinton, despite some partisan disagreement with policy, was universally lauded Wednesday night after his nomination speech on behalf of President Obama. It was, because of the men's relative disdain for eachother, in many ways a historic moment.
He was wonky, didn't shy away from policy, was defiant of Republican claims without being mean-spirited and painted Obama as a man doing more than enough to turn around a mess that takes more than three years to clear up.
In short, many pundits say Clinton did masterfully in 45 minutes what Obama has been unable to do in his years in office - he communicated vision, goals, challenges and hard realities in his folksy, but knowledgable way. In fact, it had many journalists and political pros asking if maybe Clinton's resounding victory at the podium didn't set Obama with too high a bar in his own speech Thursday night.
What some of the watchers are saying:
- Ezra Klein writes for the Daily Beast Clinton Totally Kills It
- The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza points out the need for Clinton the policy master - and the Democratic Party's mistake in freezing him out as a communicator so long
- Nicholas Kristof writes for The New York Times that Obama's problem all along has been his inability as a communicator
- Jonathan Kohn writes for The New Republic that the speech was all about the substance
- Clinton still has the touch, but will it rub off on Obama? That's the question asked at Real Clear Politics by Carl M. Cannon and Caitlin Huey-Burns
- Jennifer Rubin wrote in The Washington Post that Clinton's appearance only harmed Obama - a reminder of one's strength and the other's weakness
- The Guardian's Gary Younge writes that Clinton gave the speech Obama needed - and maybe couldn't make himself
- Maggie Haberman's piece on Politico points out that Clinton seemed to enjoy himself in a way that Obama never does
And many watchers are asking if the rousing speech, heavy on hope and change, that Obama delivered in Denver in 2008 is within reach again for a president who's taken hits in nearly every pollable area of his tenure in the White House.
