Michelle and Hilary
Aug. 27th, 2008 12:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
howeirdThis morning I caught up on the DNC speeches (I needed to test the video captures anyway). What reminded me is as I was listening to KGO this morning the two middle-aged white guys Gill Gross
and Ronn Owens 
who are the station's on-location talking heads were comparing Hilary's speech with Michelle Obama's. Michelle spoke two days ago, Hilary spoke yesterday. The nutshell review (which took them 10 minutes to deliver because, like most alleged journalists in broadcast media they need to say the same thing six or seven times, not necessarily using different words) is Michelle spoke the words the DNC put on the teleprompter, but Hilary gave the best speech of her life, delivering her messages and driving home every point.
So this morning I went to youtube and watched both speeches, Hilary first. But I'll review them in the order they were made.
Michelle was herself. She's relatively young, not experienced talking to large crowds, and doesn't have a lot of experience to draw from, so her speech focused on her family and the parallels between her upbringing and Barak's. She went overboard with the claim that Barak was raised by po' working-class folk (he was raised by a mother and grandparents who were college graduates) but she did well, and there is a girlish charm about her that leaks out now and then which reminded me of high school speech class where the shy girls would get up in front of the class and brave their way through "How I Spent My Summer Vacation". She's articulate and sounds sincere. I loved how she have her big brother props, she said the kind of things my baby sister says about me. It struck a chord.
Hilary was also herself, and then some. One thing the talking heads said which I agree with is if Hilary had delivered all her campaign speeches the way she delivered this one, it would be her name on the ticket, not Obama's. Gone was the strident tone, gone was the panic, gone was the hubris. She spoke in her best alto, and there were several downright brilliant lines in there. I especially liked the "sisterhood of the traveling pant suits". She drew on all her years of experience, especially the past year of campaigning, and she even managed to say nice things about John McCain while stapling him to the chicken. I think she could have skipped two or three instances of "vote for Obama", especially because her speech was given before the final vote.** She is still officially a candidate, I wish they had put her speech after the vote, not before. But I digress. I was impressed. I was mostly persuaded. I may vote for BHO after all.
One thing the talking heads went on about was Hilary's outfit. She apparently had brought several colors of pant suit with her, and had her experts choose the one which played best in the Pepsi Center's lighting and on TV. It was a muted orange, just a bit more yellow than salmon. She looked both professional and attractive. I would tap that. Michelle, on the other hand, wore a simple aquamarine woven dress with a tacky little starburst pattern at the V-neck . It did not make her attractive or fashionable, and I think she could have done much better for a prime time speech on national TV in front of a huge audience. Had Hilary won and had Bubba been in the same position, he would have worn his best suit. If that's Michelle's best dress, we're in for a very dowdy four years. Id doesn't matter - if she becomes First Lady I'm sure she'll have fashion sense thrust upon her, big-time.
I am not looking forward to the vote, as my understanding is the DNC puppeteers are going to have Hilary stop the roll call early and withdraw in favor of Obama. I don't like this because it robs me of the chance to see whether Obama really had the votes or not, and if he did, by how many. I'm just A-R that way.
**I have a problem with delegates not voting in the first round for the candidate who got them to the convention in the first place. I don't have a problem with that being a futile gesture, and I don't think Obama not winning by acclimation would be a Bad Thing.
and Ronn Owens who are the station's on-location talking heads were comparing Hilary's speech with Michelle Obama's. Michelle spoke two days ago, Hilary spoke yesterday. The nutshell review (which took them 10 minutes to deliver because, like most alleged journalists in broadcast media they need to say the same thing six or seven times, not necessarily using different words) is Michelle spoke the words the DNC put on the teleprompter, but Hilary gave the best speech of her life, delivering her messages and driving home every point.So this morning I went to youtube and watched both speeches, Hilary first. But I'll review them in the order they were made.
Michelle was herself. She's relatively young, not experienced talking to large crowds, and doesn't have a lot of experience to draw from, so her speech focused on her family and the parallels between her upbringing and Barak's. She went overboard with the claim that Barak was raised by po' working-class folk (he was raised by a mother and grandparents who were college graduates) but she did well, and there is a girlish charm about her that leaks out now and then which reminded me of high school speech class where the shy girls would get up in front of the class and brave their way through "How I Spent My Summer Vacation". She's articulate and sounds sincere. I loved how she have her big brother props, she said the kind of things my baby sister says about me. It struck a chord.
Hilary was also herself, and then some. One thing the talking heads said which I agree with is if Hilary had delivered all her campaign speeches the way she delivered this one, it would be her name on the ticket, not Obama's. Gone was the strident tone, gone was the panic, gone was the hubris. She spoke in her best alto, and there were several downright brilliant lines in there. I especially liked the "sisterhood of the traveling pant suits". She drew on all her years of experience, especially the past year of campaigning, and she even managed to say nice things about John McCain while stapling him to the chicken. I think she could have skipped two or three instances of "vote for Obama", especially because her speech was given before the final vote.** She is still officially a candidate, I wish they had put her speech after the vote, not before. But I digress. I was impressed. I was mostly persuaded. I may vote for BHO after all.
One thing the talking heads went on about was Hilary's outfit. She apparently had brought several colors of pant suit with her, and had her experts choose the one which played best in the Pepsi Center's lighting and on TV. It was a muted orange, just a bit more yellow than salmon. She looked both professional and attractive. I would tap that. Michelle, on the other hand, wore a simple aquamarine woven dress with a tacky little starburst pattern at the V-neck . It did not make her attractive or fashionable, and I think she could have done much better for a prime time speech on national TV in front of a huge audience. Had Hilary won and had Bubba been in the same position, he would have worn his best suit. If that's Michelle's best dress, we're in for a very dowdy four years. Id doesn't matter - if she becomes First Lady I'm sure she'll have fashion sense thrust upon her, big-time.
I am not looking forward to the vote, as my understanding is the DNC puppeteers are going to have Hilary stop the roll call early and withdraw in favor of Obama. I don't like this because it robs me of the chance to see whether Obama really had the votes or not, and if he did, by how many. I'm just A-R that way.
**I have a problem with delegates not voting in the first round for the candidate who got them to the convention in the first place. I don't have a problem with that being a futile gesture, and I don't think Obama not winning by acclimation would be a Bad Thing.
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no subject
Date: 2008-08-27 08:33 pm (UTC)Turning the convention into a coronation is a bit repulsive to me. Let's be honest: I'd love to see a floor fight. It could only -help- the Democrats at this point and they might have ended up with a real ticket that could compete. [sighs]
no subject
Date: 2008-08-27 11:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-28 01:44 am (UTC)Plus and also and furthermore, you *are* aware that Michelle Obama is being touted as the new fashionista du jour, and everything she wears flies off the shelves, and people are comparing her to Jackie, right? She has repeated in several interviews that she "just wants to look nice" but has a great designer in Chicago that she works with. I think she looks super, especially with being so gigantic. If only I could work out that much.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-28 04:53 am (UTC)Michelle Obama has appeared in some very attractive outfits, but the dress she wore for the DNC speech was not one of them. Of course the lemmings are buying whatever they see her wear. Lemmings are like that. Comparing her to Princess Jackie is absurd. "Great designer in Chicago" just doesn't have the ring that "great designers in Paris" does.