Barack Obama
With Kerry Under the Spanish Oaks
Barack Obama receives a hug and an endorsement from former presidential candidate John Kerry as he speaks during a campaign stop at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. (Reuters).
By Alec MacGillis
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- One could detect, at first, the slightest bit of confusion and letdown in the huge crowd gathered on a glorious sunny day under the Spanish oaks: they had been waiting in very long lines for more than an hour to see the biggest new political sensation in years, and now they were getting...John Kerry?
But a moment later, the import of Kerry's presence at the Barack Obama rally at the College of Charleston set in -- even for the vast majority who were unaware of Kerry's oh-so-valuable voter mailing list -- and they cheered the affirmation of Obama by at least one pillar of the national Democratic establishment.
"Martin Luther King said the time is always right to do what is right," Kerry boomed across the packed courtyard, with the neoclassical columns of old Randolph Hall behind him, "and I am here in South Carolina because this is the right time to share with you, to make sure that we know, that I have the confidence that Barack Obama can be, will be, and should be the next president."
There was a certain historical irony to the moment. In 2004, Obama had burst onto the national scene with his speech at the Democratic convention in Boston, a speech that, in its more prosaic sections, praised Kerry, the party's nominee, for his long service to the country, in Vietnam and the Senate. Now here was Kerry coming to speak on Obama's behalf before an audience of several thousand to make the mirror image case: that Democrats should rally around Obama precisely because he possessed a judgment and idealism that had been untarnished by an overlong tenure in Washington.
"Mile by mile on the long march of this campaign the cynics have questioned whether this young leader from Illinois
ready," he said. "But you know what, the cynics may have spoken but it is the people that will decide."
He invoked Thomas Jefferson's writing the Declaration of Independence at 33, and King giving his "I have a dream" speech at 34, as proof that age is immaterial.
"Since the birth of our nation change has been won by young presidents and young leaders who have shown that experience is not defined by time in Washington and years in office it is defined by wisdom and instinct and vision," he said. "When we choose a president we are electing judgment and character not years on this earth."
Kerry did not refer by name to Hillary Clinton or John Edwards, his 2004 running mate, saying only that the other candidates in the race were "terrific public servants." But he took several implicit jabs at the case Clinton and her husband have been making against Obama. He declared that Obama was "right about the war in Iraq," seeming to counter Bill Clinton's recent charge that Obama's opposition to the war was shaky because he had said at the 2004 convention that he wasn't sure how he would have voted on the war had he been in the Senate at the time. (Obama has said he was only trying to be gracious toward Kerry, who had voted for the war.)
More explicitly, Kerry disputed Hillary Clinton's warning against Obama's "false hopes." "The only charge that rings false is the one that tells you not to hope for a better America," he said. "Don't let anyone tell you to accept the downsizing of the American dream."
For all of Kerry's attempts to speak the language of youthful insurrection -- "Barack Obama isn't gonna just break the mold, together we are going to shatter it into a million pieces" -- he also verged into his characteristic stentorian tone at points, and at a length of 17 minutes, the speech dragged at moments.
But if anything, Kerry's Brahmin formality only served as a foil for the fire that followed, as Obama went into his stump speech. Afterward, several in the crowd said that Kerry's words, combined with Obama's own, had helped them overcome some of their doubts about whether Obama was ready for the job. Beki Crowell, 41, a restaurant owner in Charleston of a biracial background, said that her support was reinforced by the sight of such a diverse crowd turning out for the event.
"I've been on the fence between Hillary and Obama, but I just went over to him" she said. "I had this idea that he had to be more experienced, but what hit me is if you can bring people together like this, and inspire people, then you can make change from a fresh perspective. You just don't see this in South Carolina."
Posted at 3:06 PM ET on Jan 10, 2008
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Posted by: ChunkyMonkey1 | January 13, 2008 10:30 AM
LOL! "Brokeback Plantation"!
Posted by: rat-the | January 11, 2008 4:40 PM
Many thanks to poster jdylam for that stirring and detailed account of the rally at the College of Charleston. This report and the response from so many South Carolinians of every background and description to Senator Obama's inspirational campaign lifts my heart and makes me believe that we can right the direction of this country under his leadership.
Posted by: pitts | January 11, 2008 1:34 PM
As a resident of Charleston and student at the College of Charleston, I can tell you Obama created quite the stir on campus (rather, in the downtown Charleston area) today. None of the other candidates that arrived for the Bully Pulpit series hosted by the school had nearly this many crowds. Police and secret service were all over and the line to get into the event literally stretched around several blocks. So long was it that people were running around asking volunteer staffers "Do you know where the end of the line begins?"
The atmosphere inside the grassy Randolph Hall enclosure was charged to say the least. Excitement and sheer energy were in the air. Judging from the cheers, waves, and whoops, it seemed most of the crowd were very enthusiastic and supportive of Mr. Obama throughout. Perhaps even, with ever growing fervor. As for the make up of the crowd: I saw whites, blacks, asians, men, women, old, young-- people from almost every imaginable demographic. And they all wanted to hear what Mr. Obama had to say. At that, many of them were cheering for him, clapping, hollering-- sometimes seemingly almost like they were applauding his mere presence on the stage.
I will say Senator Kerry's entrance drew a lot of whoops and hollers from the people as well. I sensed some people weren't quite enthused but overall, despite the fact that I myself voted against him in the last election, his words helped me form my decisions about Obama as a man and potential President elect. I was impressed by Senator Obama's life story. He was not born into the elite as so many of America's current leaders were, and while later in life, having graduated from an Ivy League school, he had opportunities for worldly and career excellence, but passed these up to work as a community organizer, and then went on to other positions of civic service. He passed up riches and career success to serve people. I thought that said something about the man I was about to listen to.
Granted, much of what Obama said today was recycled from things he has said all the way back from his first public speech, the one made months before his official declaration for the presidency. And while you could tell many of his words were rehearsed from months and months of campaigning, there was still a power and charge to his speech and demeanor, a certain vigor, that was unmistakable. And what he had to say was compelling...yes, his rhetoric was charming, hopeful, and pleasing to the ears but more than that, his proposals were also clear cut, specific, and delivered with conviction. Today I saw a man who is a potent mix of charisma, intellect, vision, and sharp rhetoric.
I walked away from the event feeling like I have a better idea of who Mr. Obama is. Yes, he is a professional politician. He knows how to work crowds and he does so without batting an eye lash. He is a charming speaker and has a naturally persuasive personality. He's a skilled presenter. And yet, he is also passionate and from the fervor in his words and posture upon that podium, I sense he is not a man who backs down. He has an energy and power to him, which exudes from his person wherever he stands and speaks, that says "I will get things done." Judging from this, but also his record of achievements, he did not strike me as a man who fails in his aims, and who doesn't stop until those aims are achieved. And he promised some damn good aims today. But whatever he is, he is certainly a man who knows how to command people's attention.
Finally, in his speech, he said how this country is divided and has been for some time. How, even on Capital Hill, he himself has never seen things so divisive. He promised to change that, to bring unity to America's spirit, and end all the lines, and categories, and hyper-partisan prejudices that gnaw at the foundation of our well-being as a people and nation. To lead us into a nation of Americans, not Democrats or Republicans of varying shades of color and ethnicity, but Americans. I believed him.
Posted by: jdylam | January 10, 2008 11:34 PM
It's hard to believe that these reclusive,losers still have to cry over the "Swift Boaters" who were never disproven, Kerry lost because he is a pompous, wooden,arrogant super rich Patrician trying to impersonate a plebian, socialist do gooder to gain the holy grail of the presidency. Give it up guys...Bush won and is the President. If Obama isn't careful, having a slippery character like Kerry on his team, will get politics right back to where he was trying to get away from.. drawing sulkers left over from the last election they lostand their eternal hatred...we have had enough of the crybabies of both sides...Move On!
Posted by: jstratt2 | January 10, 2008 8:45 PM
Kiss of death. That's mean Mr. Kerry.
Posted by: katie839 | January 10, 2008 8:16 PM
Now it's time for the despicable, "sad excuse for a patriot" Swift-boaters to come out with attack ads funded by some psycho right-winger. Did America learn it's lesson?
Posted by: thebobbob | January 10, 2008 5:44 PM
Dick "Turbin" Durbin ain't an Establishment Democrat?!
Posted by: JakeD | January 10, 2008 5:43 PM
Good news. Hopefully this will let the establishment Dems(over 50 middle/lower class white women) know that there's an establishment Dem leader out there who sees what is possible in an Obama campaign. This isan opportunity that can't be passed up, folks. An opportunity to forgo the misery of cut-throat politics for the next 4 years. An opportunity for a resolution of decades long resentment between the right-left establishment that has had their feet stuck in a block of cement since 1968. It's time to FINALLY turn the page on this. Don't punish future generations for the battles you've been fighting for most of your adult life.
A new dynamic is on the horizon. Let it rise, people.
Posted by: gnostic19 | January 10, 2008 5:42 PM
P.S. Kerry's endorsement brings Obama's Senate endorsement total to FOUR (joining Dick Durbin, Kent Conrad, and Tim Johnson); Mitt Romney already has FIVE Senate endorsements (Wayne Allard, Judd Gregg, Jim DeMint, Robert Bennett, and of course Orrin Hatch):
Posted by: JakeD | January 10, 2008 4:48 PM
Kerry is wrong.
Obama and every other candidates needs to be vetted and specific. "Im am Mr. Change" is not enough for most voters.
Posted by: hhkeller | January 10, 2008 4:26 PM
Obama versus Clinton on the Environment
greenpieceblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/obama-vs-clinton-on-environment.html
Posted by: crumbrye1 | January 10, 2008 4:18 PM
Sounds pretty good, actually. Good words, useful endorsement. We'll need to start quoting some of these phrases.
Posted by: scharb | January 10, 2008 4:15 PM
At least it wasn't spelled "Osama" -- how do you spell his MIDDLE name?
Posted by: JakeD | January 10, 2008 3:29 PM
There is a typo on Obama's name in the article "Obmama". Please fix it.
Posted by: bizquik37 | January 10, 2008 3:25 PM
P.S. -- didn't John Kerry "have the confidence that HE could be, would be, and should be the next president" four years ago -- Alec MacGillis seems to have missed that certain historical irony to the moment.
Posted by: JakeD | January 10, 2008 3:19 PM
Good thing the South Carolina Democratic Party REFUSED to allow Stephen Colbert to enter that primary : (
HUCKABEE/COLBERT '08
Posted by: JakeD | January 10, 2008 3:16 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
I am not sure how Kerry's endorsement will bring new voters to Obama's camp. But it definetely will prevent the Clinton camp from stealing some of the people who are close to the fence. Also the pro Kerry/Edwards people from 2004 will vote Obama instead of Edwards after this enorsement. The net result will be a small positive for Obama, not by a whole lot. But at this stage every bit counts.