13 Thursday Gets My Vote
1. I watched PBS's full coverage of the Democratic National Convention like others watched the Olympics (which I didn’t).
2. I don’t watch sports either, but watched Sheryl Crow, Stevie Wonder, and Michael McDonald sing at the DNC like others watch the Super Bowl at halftime.
3. I’m a registered Independent, fiscally conservative, who votes Democrat because they represent my interests in Labor Rights, Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, and Environmental Protections better than their counterparts. (They also have been better at balancing the budget and controlling the deficit as of late).
4. From day one my first choice for the Democratic Presidential Candidate would have been Al Gore, then Obama, then Hillary. I liked Kucinich too but he reminded me of Ringo to the Beatles Paul, John, and George. We needed his truthful drumbeat to keep it all together, but in reality, he wasn’t going to be writing or singing those top ten songs.
5. Gore (who is my true president in an alternate world) joked: John McCain, a man who has earned our respect on many levels, is now openly endorsing the policies of the Bush-Cheney White House and promising to actually continue them, the same policies all over again. Hey, I believe in recycling, but that's ridiculous.
6. Seriously though, he also said: “We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the future of human civilization. Every bit of that has to change.”
7. Oprah supposedly cried her eyelashes off listening to Obama’s speech. See HERE.
8. Republican, Pat Buchanan thought it was the best speech he ever heard and that it transcended politics. See HERE.
9. Buchanan’s favorite line from Obama's speech: I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.
10. One of mine was: I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington. But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you.
11. I remember a time when every single politician that gave a speech didn’t have to end it with “God Bless America.” When did that become required?
12. Bill Clinton’s appearance at the Democratic National Convention was met with one of the longest ovations ever recorded at such an event. That was before he got stuck in an elevator.
13. I guess I wasn’t alone: More people watched Obama speak from a packed stadium in Denver on Thursday than watched the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, the final "American Idol" or the Academy Awards this year, Nielsen Media Research said Friday. ~ AP
Thursday headquarters is here. My other 13's are here. View more 13 Thursday’s here.
Comments
Today is Wednesday?!! I saw this and thought I only had one more day of work. xo
PS You should change the date to 9/4 or people are going to get screwed up and call it whacky wednesday because we think it is thursday.
Posted by: Sherry | September 3, 2008 7:49 PM
Oh I meant to say I LOVE #9 & 10!!
Posted by: Sherry | September 3, 2008 7:53 PM
I was impressed with Obama's speech, and by the speeches of Al Gore and both Clintons. I didn't bother with the music, though.
Posted by: Nicholas | September 3, 2008 8:27 PM
Thanks, She. I meant to use Thursday's date. I fixed it.
Posted by: colleen | September 3, 2008 8:39 PM
What a priveledge we have in our country to vote our conscience
Posted by: marcia@joyismy goal | September 3, 2008 8:57 PM
Obama's speech was nothing short of amazing. I'm listening to Huckabee's speech right now (Dad's got the tv on), and he's quite entertaining.
Posted by: Janet | September 3, 2008 9:34 PM
Kucinich would have been my guy! Ha. Oh well. Thanks for your thoughts and your candor, Colleen. I think we are on the same road.
Posted by: SandyCarlson | September 3, 2008 10:11 PM
Seems we agree...and I'm tired of a Red America, a Blue America - I will be delighted if we can become the United States of America!!!
Posted by: Sara | September 3, 2008 10:27 PM
Count me in...I told some volunteers at the '92 Republican Convention that I was a fiscal conservative, social liberal who voted independent...They looked at me with blank looks and open mouths.
I heard Pat Buchanan comment on his own speech in 1992 last week, it was that very speech that caused me to walk into the voting booth that November and pull a straight Democratic lever for the first time. Nothing has changed since that day in my voting habits (of course George W. had a lot to do with that, first as Governor then as President).
Posted by: Gary Boyd | September 3, 2008 10:44 PM
Talking politics can be dangerous. I will plea the 5th on this one;) Happy TT.
Posted by: Lori | September 4, 2008 12:15 AM
hard for me to listen to the republican politics recently. some of their comments in st paul make me cringe. it is also interesting that we see mostly a sea of caucasians in the convention hall. where are the asians and african-americans, the native americans and the east indians? where are the people who make up the whole country? i just have so many issues with the policies espoused there so it is always difficult to watch, but we must stay informed.
loved the entire democratic convention. i was a "hillary girl" first and moved to obama when she dropped out. i am sorry he didn't put her on the ticket. he may need those votes before it is all over. i am very fond of biden and am thankful for his expertise in foreign affairs.
this is going to be a firecracker of an election. i hope we all survive it and especially hope we survive the aftermath! W has almost killed us and the country. a change is long overdue.
Posted by: sky | September 4, 2008 1:37 AM
Your comparison of Kucinich to Ringo made me laugh. That was a good analogy!
I was wondering the same thing as you in regards to trying to remember when saying "God Bless America" at the end of a political speech became a requirement. I think that politicians are afraid not to say it now out of fear of being criticized.
I knew that Obama's speech was a ratings hit (I was watching it also), but I didn't know it beat this year's Oscar telecast. Of course, that's just more ammo (albeit weak) for the anti-Obama camp to use when they refer to him as a "celebrity" politician. Like I say, "don't hate, congratulate".
Posted by: Malcolm | September 4, 2008 3:55 AM
Loved the Kucinich/Ringo analogy. Spot on.
And count me as another "it should have been Gore" voter.
Posted by: Robin | September 4, 2008 4:52 AM
I loved all of the speeches at the DNC, but didn't watch much of the filler stuff.
While "So Help Me God" has been around from the beginning, I think "God Bless America" became the thing to say during the McCarthy days. That's when "under God" was stuck into the Pledge of Allegiance.
I'm watching the RNC now...it's difficult to watch and listen to...flag waving and drum beating and fact twisting.
Posted by: June | September 4, 2008 7:09 AM
What's the proof behind the speech???
Posted by: sandy | September 4, 2008 7:57 AM
Al Gore and Hillary both got cheated by Washington in my opinion- What were those Washingtonians afraid of ??
Posted by: sandy | September 4, 2008 8:15 AM
I did a little research and found this on the "God Bless America" speech phenomena: Consider this reality: The omnipresence of “God bless America” as a political slogan is an entirely recent phenomenon. We know because we’ve run the numbers. Analysis of more than 15,000 public communications by political leaders from Franklin Roosevelt’s election in 1932 — the beginning of the modern presidency — through six years of George W. Bush’s administration revealed that prior to Ronald Reagan taking office in 1981, the phrase had passed a modern president’s lips only once in a major address: Richard Nixon used it to conclude a 1973 speech about Watergate. http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2008/03/the_god_bless_america_test.html
Posted by: colleen | September 4, 2008 9:02 AM
Love Sherry's comment! Mines up and read yesterdays post too. Ohhh spooky. LOL
Posted by: Chrissie | September 4, 2008 12:05 PM
This is such a weird time in the world. I... boy... I don't know if my heart/hope can stand another 8 years.
Posted by: On a limb with Claudia | September 4, 2008 12:13 PM
I'm an independent voting Republican because I believe individuals deserve a level of freedom and opportunity that trumps collective rights. This also translates into a greater degree of personal responsibility. I feel that the Republican party is less divisive regarding race, gender, etc. than the Democratic party, and I believe that the Republican party is far superior to other parties on both national defense and economy.
I find the media, and celebrities like Oprah, frequently stepping over the line in biased support of history's least experienced candidate, Barrack Obama. Currently, America is showing a surge, no not the one Obama couldn't forsee succeeding, but the one that shows Sarah Palin outshining and outclassing her opponents and detractors. I don't believe these trends will change much until the VP and Presidential debates, where many independents will be the deciding factor in this year's election.
Posted by: Jim | September 13, 2008 8:29 PM
Not everyone would agree that Obama is history's least qualified presidential candidate Most historians cite Lincoln as our most inexperienced president and point out that some of the most experienced ones turned out to be duds. Here's an interesting post that ironically came about over concerns some had about our current president's limited experience. In part:
The first president cited above was Abraham Lincoln, who is usually at the top of every list of great presidents. Yet he was the only president with no experience as a governor, senator, Cabinet member, general or vice president. Lincoln’s previous experience in public office consisted of one term in the U.S. House, several terms in the Illinois Legislature and a brief tenure as postmaster of New Salem, Ill. He was also an unsuccessful merchant, a successful lawyer and twice an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate.
http://politicalblogs.startribune.com/bigquestionblog/?page_id=492
Posted by: colleen | September 13, 2008 9:31 PM