Saturday, January 26, 2008

We Shall Overcome—the Clintons   [Rich Lowry]

That was not only a stirring victory speech by Obama, but a devastating rebuke to the Clintons clothed in inspirational liberal terms.

Obama embraced diversity, the subtext being that Hillary can't win blacks and is depending on keeping him from winning whites; he said that the old politics objects even to saying that Republicans have ideas, a dig at Hillary's ridiculous attacks on what he said about Republicans formerly being the party of ideas; he said that the old Washington thinking values time spent in Washington and proximity to the White House, a slap at Hillary touting her time as First Lady; he attacked Washington lobbyists, when Hillary has defended their role in the process; he said we can overcome racial categories, a rebuke to the Clinton strategy of polarizing the campaign along racial lines.

Then, he grounded his message of hope in Edwardesque stories illustrating the need for better health care, education, and wages—a lunch-bucket appeal. Near the end, there was a soaring call for national unity, echoing his famous 2004 convention speech, "I didn't see a white South Carolina or a black South Carolina, I saw South Carolina." And he framed his fight with Hillary, in another reference to the way she and her husband have fought this campaign, thusly, "It's not about black versus against white, it's the past versus the future." Ouch. And when he said the old politics was about "divisions, distractions, and drama," could there be any three words better suited to describe Clintonian attack politics?

Overall, a stunningly deft performance, and a moving one. It's the best liberal case you'll ever hear for moving on from the Clintons.

01/26 10:03 PMShare