He stood in front of the country and delivered a speech at the Democratic convention that not only elevated the language of politics on this night to a high place, but also tried to raise the roof at the same time.
And near the end of it this is what he said, before the cheers came at him once more from all corners of the hall:
“This election will measure the record of the past four years. But more than that, it will answer the question of what kind of people we want to be.”
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This was not Barack Obama on Thursday night in Charlotte, or Bill Clinton the night before. It was then-Gov. Mario Cuomo delivering the keynote address at the Democratic Convention of 1984 in San Francisco, doing that with his words and with his intelligence, making himself a national figure for the first time, making you pay attention to what he had to say about his party and about America.
Now all this time later there were other speeches to talk about this week, starting with Clinton on Wednesday night, the best speech of his career, the best speech any convention in any party has ever heard whether you like him or not or agree with him or not, and then the President himself on Thursday night, laying out his case, in a calm and substantive way, about why he should get a second term.
“We’re offering a better path,” he said in Charlotte.
It was part of the biggest speech he has yet been asked to make, bigger than in Boston in 2004 when he was the one introducing himself to the country at a Democratic convention, bigger than the one about race in Philadelphia four years ago.
“Nobody has ever gotten a bigger push than Bill Clinton gave to Obama,” Mario Cuomo said Thursday morning.
But for all the push he got and all the help, this was finally Barack Obama’s show in Charlotte, you saw this whether you are going to vote for him or not. At a time when the other side calls him not just a bad President but says he’s in over his head, he had to look strong Thursday night. And did.
“I won’t pretend the path I’m offering is quick or easy. I never have,” he said. “You didn’t elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. You elected me to tell you the truth.”
He followed: “The truth is, it will take more than a few years to solve problems that have built up over decades.”
And here is something else he said on Thursday night, talking about the party against which he will run from now until Nov. 6:
“Have a surplus? Try a tax cut. Deficit too high? Try another. Feel a cold coming on. Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations and call us in the morning.”
