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Where is NH now? Rasmussen says for Obama far better vs McCain | 21 comments
True; and I do believe Obama is the greatest orator I've ever witnessed. (4.00 / 1)
In October 2006, Bill Clinton was headlining an NHDP fundraiser in Bedford.  It was standing-room-only, $250 a head.  I was volunteering for the NHDP, having been an intern that summer, so I got in for free.  And as I listened to the former President speak, I thought how impressive it was, what great points he not just brought up but instilled, and how incredible that he could give such a speech without script or prompter, and as he was not in an election, he had no use for a well-prepared stump speech (in hindsight, he probably gave the same speech every two days in a different city for a different cause, but that's beside the point).  I was inspired, and when he finished I approached the rope line for a handshake and an autograph (since then, I've stopped seeking autographs or pictures; I'd rather be taken seriously, and so I have neither from Bill Richardson).

But...

At the 2008 100 Club, I was a guest of the Richardson campaign, which paid for me to sit at one of the two-digit high-dollar tables because I had been elected as a highly-placed slated delegate.  And I heard the candidates speak.  Hillary, then Kucinich, then Richardson, then Obama.  Hillary is consistent, Kucinich sounds like a robot when he gets excited, nothing new.  Richardson's speech was not his best; he was hoarse and that night, lacked what I like to call "the fire".  It wasn't his best, to say the least, but I nearly lost my voice screaming at every clap line.  And then Obama spoke, and I sat back down.  Well, I should say, I sat down first.  Then, what must have been a thousand of the Senator's supporters rushed the stage, each holding a sign (because Obama staffers had walked to every table with stacks of them and made sure anybody who wanted one had one), and chanting his name, as U2's City of Blinding Lights played, and the whole scene set quite an aura.  If you haven't witnessed such an event, find yourself a big Obama rally in Vermont and see it while you have the chance.  Anyway, then he spoke, and it was quite a speech.  It hit me with the effect one is used to hearing of his work, and sitting at my Richardson table, it was all I could do to keep from rushing the stage myself.

And that is Obama's greatest strength.  He inspires people, and he knows it.  He knows that leadership is not about power, about domination, about strategic manipulation, but about inspiring people to follow you.  I see it in his style, in his supporters, in his foreign and domestic policy, and that is why I want him to be the leader of this great nation, so long lacking a true leader.

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Where is NH now? Rasmussen says for Obama far better vs McCain | 21 comments
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