Midway through his speech at McArthur Court, Barack Obama was describing the speech with which he announced his candidacy for president, saying, "and as I stood there, on the steps of the Illinois State House--the same place where Abraham Lincoln announced his candidacy--"
He was cut off by the loud, manly cheers of a solitary wag in the second tier of the arena, which brought from the crowd some mild, polite laughter and left the Democratic contender briefly bewildered. But his confusion lasted only a split second before he his face curled into a wry smile and he turned to face the man.
"Yes," he chuckled, "yes, that's right. Let's hear it for Abraham Lincoln."
That got the loudest cheer of the night and the widest smile from the Illinois senator.
Obama's address was precisely an hour long, lasting from 9:06 to 10:06, and it did not, by one second, outstay its welcome. With almost mathematical precision it covered every inch of the Obama platform, never for a second spilling over the edge. There was nuance to it--Obama did not point out a similarity (they're both from Illinois!) to the most respected man in American history by mistake--but overall, it was more Brutus than Marc Anthony, a summary of the stances Obama holds rather than an attempt to get anyone in the audience to take them up. Judging by the response he got from an overwhelmingly sympathetic crowd, that would have been a waste of time.
Nobody ought to have been impressed by the candidate's rhetoric because it was essentially the same information probably available at his website, in his pamphlets and, most importantly, likely identical to the speeches he'd given in Salem and Portland earlier in the day.
What were impressive were the moments when he put down the obligatory load of the speech briefly and juggled the slippery balls thrown at him by the audience. These instances were infrequent, and he wisely elected to dodge the promptings of the rambling woman seated behind him in the second tier, but they showed a man of quick reactions, wit, and realism.
For instance, when "I love you" hurdled loudly in his direction from several angles, he merely nodded and flippantly replied, "Yes, yes, I love you too," using the same tone of voice one applies to an overeager dog, measured but patronizing, and above all ironical. Is it any wonder that this man is the candidate of choice among younger voters? You would never expect Hillary Clinton or John McCain to indulge in sarcasm.
My father, back when he was a curmudgeonly Obama skeptic rather than a dogmatic Obama supporter, expressed wariness at this facet of the candidate's personality. He said, "I'm scared that MTV is deciding the presidency." There's reason in this, since George Bush was elected largely because, between him and Al Gore or John Kerry, most people in 2000 or 2004 knew who they'd rather share a round of beers with.
But there's also sense in picking a candidate self-aware enough to generate charisma. One of my professors called this the "Broken Windows Theory"--if the windows are broken, you wonder what else is missing. The evidence from Mac Court suggests that, with Barack Obama, the answer is not too much.
-Eleanor
This is the third in a series of articles about Barack Obama's recent visit to Eugene.
He was cut off by the loud, manly cheers of a solitary wag in the second tier of the arena, which brought from the crowd some mild, polite laughter and left the Democratic contender briefly bewildered. But his confusion lasted only a split second before he his face curled into a wry smile and he turned to face the man.
"Yes," he chuckled, "yes, that's right. Let's hear it for Abraham Lincoln."
That got the loudest cheer of the night and the widest smile from the Illinois senator.
Obama's address was precisely an hour long, lasting from 9:06 to 10:06, and it did not, by one second, outstay its welcome. With almost mathematical precision it covered every inch of the Obama platform, never for a second spilling over the edge. There was nuance to it--Obama did not point out a similarity (they're both from Illinois!) to the most respected man in American history by mistake--but overall, it was more Brutus than Marc Anthony, a summary of the stances Obama holds rather than an attempt to get anyone in the audience to take them up. Judging by the response he got from an overwhelmingly sympathetic crowd, that would have been a waste of time.
Nobody ought to have been impressed by the candidate's rhetoric because it was essentially the same information probably available at his website, in his pamphlets and, most importantly, likely identical to the speeches he'd given in Salem and Portland earlier in the day.
What were impressive were the moments when he put down the obligatory load of the speech briefly and juggled the slippery balls thrown at him by the audience. These instances were infrequent, and he wisely elected to dodge the promptings of the rambling woman seated behind him in the second tier, but they showed a man of quick reactions, wit, and realism.
For instance, when "I love you" hurdled loudly in his direction from several angles, he merely nodded and flippantly replied, "Yes, yes, I love you too," using the same tone of voice one applies to an overeager dog, measured but patronizing, and above all ironical. Is it any wonder that this man is the candidate of choice among younger voters? You would never expect Hillary Clinton or John McCain to indulge in sarcasm.
My father, back when he was a curmudgeonly Obama skeptic rather than a dogmatic Obama supporter, expressed wariness at this facet of the candidate's personality. He said, "I'm scared that MTV is deciding the presidency." There's reason in this, since George Bush was elected largely because, between him and Al Gore or John Kerry, most people in 2000 or 2004 knew who they'd rather share a round of beers with.
But there's also sense in picking a candidate self-aware enough to generate charisma. One of my professors called this the "Broken Windows Theory"--if the windows are broken, you wonder what else is missing. The evidence from Mac Court suggests that, with Barack Obama, the answer is not too much.
-Eleanor
This is the third in a series of articles about Barack Obama's recent visit to Eugene.
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