Left Flank

My initial response to both the Michelle Obama and Ted Kennedy speeches (and related introductions): the Dems flirted with mawkishness, but might just convince Democrat and independent rank-and-file that the Dems are human first, political animals second. I was impressed with Michelle Obama's performance, with its hint of a tremulous voice. I can imagine how the Republicans will mock the abundance, in David Brooks' terms (I was watching the PBS coverage), how she failed to downplay her husband's messiah status, but I thought she and her daughters were genuine. The Republicans risk throttling up the scorn and satire.

One further reflection: Michelle's performance leads me to believe, that Barack's personal history has created a unique politician sui generis. But, it is Michelle's personality, with her family history, that grounds and motivates him.

Kennedy's performance was also emotional, in the sense, that the Kennedy sentinel has so little time left, and at times he seemed doddering.

michelle obama, edward kennedy, dnc, democrats, barack obama

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Is the eulogizing premature? After all, Strom Thurmond crawled into late veneration, and Robert Byrd is an angelic shell of his former pork-barrel self. There is something strained and bizarre about all this, as if pundits and Washington were trying to raise the ghost of bipartisanship through a collective act of remembering youthful innocence.

David Rogers makes Kennedy sound like some other titans of the Senate—all failed in bids for the White House—like Henry Clay (who could have been Kennedy's drinking buddy), Daniel Webster, or John C. Calhoun. But "...passion once made Kennedy a polarizing force in national politics. But Kennedy is a man who discovered himself in the Senate, just as the Senate discovered more in him." is nearly epitaph-worthy. But, his is a rare script.

More common, and equally insulting in their own separate ways, are the post-Kennedy election bets and "Hillary Clinton is the next Teddy" arguments. The latter is a few degrees shy of insulting both the Senate and Kennedy, but it is a rather sly way of milking Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama, instead of mourning the Massachusetts Falstaff's opportunity to remain a Democratic kingmaker.

Yet, all change is exciting. Mind you, that's a very broad emotion!