The Times They Are A-Changin'

For various reasons, I missed the DNC this week. So this morning I've been watching it on iTunes. Next week I'll watch the RNC. I know who I'm voting for, but I still want to see what both sides have to say.

All politics aside, you should watch Obama's nomination acceptance speech if you haven't already ... just for its style. The speechwriters did an excellent job, and it was so evenly delivered. I have so much admiration and respect for speechwriters. On the one hand, they have to take very complex ideas and events, such as entering into war, and boil them down to their most basic elements so that nothing is above anyone's head. And at the very same time, they have to take the most basic of ideas, such as the belief that no child should have to go hungry and good schools should not be out of any child's reach, and elevate them so that we realize just how serious our problems are. I love the idea that one really powerful sentence, worded just the right way, can create a 180% shift in someone's thinking.

I frequently wish I could sit in on one of my mom's high school English classes, because she's a fantastic teacher and she uses real life examples for her students. I'm sure she'll be able to use speeches from both conventions in her classes. I love watching old West Wing episodes with her because she's one of the few people I know who will get really excited about the dialogue. (If you want to see an interesting vignette about speechwriting, you should watch the West Wing season 4 DVD extra called "The Letter of the Word." I really can't say enough about my love for that show. And if you want to know my favorite speech from that show, I'm pretty sure it's the one from the season 4 opener. "The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels ..." If that line sounds familiar, it's also from Tom Hanks' Oscar acceptance speech for Philadelphia. Just fyi.)

Anyway, that's all I'm going to say about the convention and speechwriting. (Except to say watch the speech here ...)