Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

The same Republicans who delivered the repetitious mantra that Obama did not possess the soundness of judgment to handle the awesome tasks of the presidency have had that same mantra thrown back into their collective faces in the wake of the successful Obama response under the glaring white heat of the convention spotlight.

Despite some tired and rancorous complaints from the media, such as the whiners of Fox News and Pat Buchanan, a convention orchestrated by Obama and his tacticians never missed a beat during a four session period which built to a successful conclusion with one of the most memorable speeches in U.S. political history.

Obama responded to the judgment challenge by selecting a hero of mainstream America, the old blue collar, Union-oriented wing of the party, Joe Biden, to be his running mate.  

A major task of running mates is to fire ammunition and keep the opposition at bay.  Biden delivers stinging one-liners with a charming smile in the manner of FDR denouncing the "economic royalists" who staunchly opposed him.

Bill and Hillary Clinton stayed within the basic framing pattern of calling for party unity while reminding voters that things were much better when they rather than George and Laura lived in the White House.  The Clintons reinforced Obama's message of change while assuring middle class supporters that the Illinois senator is definitely in their mold and worthy of their support.

Thursday's session was a veritable masterpiece, with a superb warm-up session consisting of voices from America who have felt the pain of the Bush-Cheney years.  These included some former Republicans who conceded that, at long last, they had experienced enough in the way of greedy neoconservative Republican politics.

Note also that these individuals came from traditional battleground states such as Ohio, Michigan and New Mexico as well as states that the Obama-Biden ticket feel are now competitive, such as North Carolina and Indiana.  

Gone are the days when Republicans can focus their sights exclusively on the traditional battleground states, and in the final analysis the closeness of races in states such as North Carolina, Virginia and Indiana as well as a prospective upheaval in western states such as McCain's own Arizona along with Colorado, Nevada and Montana perhaps worry Republican strategists more than any other aspect of campaign 2008.  

As for the Obama speech, its mastery lies in the fact that, while scripted to cover the basic themes of the campaign, was delivered with such a folksy, kitchen table naturalness as to appear not to be scripted at all.  This is far easier said than done and the achievement is yet another testimonial to Obama's rare oratorical skills.

Not only did Obama squelch any claim on McCain's part as being an agent of change by confronting his opponent with the grim reality that 90% of the time he voted the Bush line; he turned the judgment issue squarely against McCain by questioning his temperament.

McCain has been long acknowledged as one of the Senate's short fuses, even by his Republican colleagues.  Now ponder that important question of John McCain taking a 3 a.m. crisis call.

Obama made another superb point in warning voters about what to expect from Republicans based on past presidential campaign performances, including 2008, explaining that those who fail in the realm of ideas must seek to obtain victory by tearing down those who challenge their failed policies.

I became more convinced than ever of the raw power and success of Obama and his tactical team culminating in Thursday night's oratorical masterpiece after visiting the BBC site and observing the commentaries of bloggers.

What I saw reminded me of what happened whenever progressive sites for which I wrote drew blood from reactionary Republicans.  Angry neocons delivered a series of the usual savage personal attacks typical of those who react with vitriol while their brain cells remain tragically stagnant.

The louder they shriek, the greater their desperation, the better the news!