Tomorrow night is the biggest speech of Barack Obama’s life. He’s had some big ones before, but tomorrow night is the brass ring. Most political events are of immeasurably little value. Does standing at a deli and pretending to be a casual customer really work? How about touring a manufacturing plant? Giving a stump speech at some anonymous little auditorium or gymnasium? Who knows? Front porch campaigns have been out of style for a long time and presidential campaigns feel as though they must always be seen to be doing something; looking busy is considered better than looking idle.
Tomorrow night is different though. It’s primetime national television and it’s going to shatter the ratings from any recent election. Tens of millions of people are going to watch it, many of them no doubt seeing an Obama speech live for the first time. It will be intensely scrutinized and if Obama and his writers have done their job a few little phrases will enter the meme-stream and set the tone for the rest of the campaign.
The commentary remoras, in every medium, will make a hash of it trying to divine meanings and results. Clips will be replayed endlessly and tenpenny analysis of everything from the outdoor setting to Obama’s body language to the roar of the crowd will echo for days. For all the changes technology has wrought on campaigns in the last two decades the acceptance speech remains an unparalleled focus of attention.
The debates are always popular and heavily scrutinized, but there the two contestants share the stage. It is only the acceptance speech where one man, a man who wants to be your president, a man who wants to be in your living room and in your thoughts and in your jokes and in your conversations for four years, gets to speak to you directly. And for just that little stretch of time the great roar of media quiets itself and all but the oppo-researchers gather in to listen.
It is an opportunity of unequaled influence, one afforded only to presidents and those who would be so, to speak directly to the entire country, to choose and to deliver words that best represent him and words that best malign his opponent. The prior three days of convention choreography, Red or Blue, pale in comparison to that one speech.
The weather forecast is clear. The polls have tightened. The election is barely two months away. He only gets one.
