“My opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy, but from all that we’ve seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era of blustering and blundering that cost America so dearly.”
Where once Obama inspired America, it seems that now, after nearly four years in power it is the president that needs new sources of hope.
“As I stand here tonight, I have never been more hopeful about America. Not because I think I have all the answers. Not because I’m naive about the magnitude of our challenges — I’m hopeful because of you,” he told supporters.
If Obama beats Republican Mitt Romney in November and secures four more years in the White House, it will have little to do with his speech on Thursday.
Unusually, Obama did not deliver the best speech of his convention. In fact it was overshadowed both by the emotional testimony of his wife on Tuesday and ex-president Bill Clinton’s masterly political tutorial the next day.
The consensus of many pundits and experts after the speech was underwhelming and probably did not change the trajectory of what is shaping up as a close election.
“I think it was a very good speech, but I don’t think it was his best speech,” said Costas Panagopoulos, an expert in campaigns and elections at Fordham University.
But Panagopoulos said that it was unlikely a wavering swing voter would have watched Obama’s meditations on fighting for change and suddenly made up his mind.
“I don’t think there was enough to drive anyone off the fence,” Panagopoulos said, adding that the presidential debates between Obama and Romney next month would be crucial in deciding the result of the November 6 election.
Professor Leila Brammer, a specialist in political rhetoric at Gustavus Adolphus College, Minnesota, said Obama’s speech was different, because his role has now changed.
“In 2004, Barack Obama spoke as a candidate. On Thursday night, he spoke as a statesman,” Brammer said.
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