US Election 2008

6:35 PM Scott Feschuk – this is it! the long wait is over! tonight, after months of waitng, we have finally arrived at the moment a nation has been anxiously awaiting – the first night of mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign.

ITQ will be liveblogging her way through the Ottawa election-watching party circuit tonight, so check back around 7pm for sporadic – but hopefully entertaining – updates. (There may even be berrycam pictures if I can figure out how to post from the road. Or pub, as the case may be.)

The first words uttered by the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party, Barack Obama, was to thank his grandmother in Hawaii “for making him the man he is.” A poignant moment in what became an outstanding and uplifting speech by the senator. His grandmother, nicknamed Toot, has been throughout his life a steadying influence and his acknowledgement of her goes to the heart of the Barack Obama story. He is an historic figure who defeated an historic figure as well. But once the hype dies down, the American electorate will start looking more at character than at making history. This will be the challenge of Barack Obama in the days and weeks ahead-to reintroduce himself to the American electorate beyond the Democratic Party.

John Edwards’ endorsement of Obama is enough to add the momentum needed for the Illinois senator to close the deal . Many will ascribe motives and ambitions to Edwards, but his move reinforces Obama’s credibility with working class voters, a much needed constituency. While Mrs. Clinton should decide on her own the moment  of withdrawal, this reduces to a large extent her claims of electability.

In recent days everyone from pundits to strategists have generally concluded Hillary Clinton has either lost the nomination or has, at best, a faint hope of winning. Even the late night comedians are saying Hillary is leading in the state of ‘denial.’ But Senator Clinton is as resilient as they come. She intends to stay in a race until it is mathematically impossible to win and, if Senator Obama has not clinched the nomination before the Convention, she will provoke a decision on the floor of the Convention. This is what her spinner says, and this is what both Clintons indicate.

Back in New Hampshire, the Obama forces on the ground had a slogan: “Fired up, ready to go.” This blog has from the outset welcomed the challenge to test Obama. The slogans in the course of a campaign are important, but the reality is that they are just words and often do not connect to reality. Hillary Clinton’s relentless pursuit of the Democratic nomination has had the unique advantage of testing the campaign slogans as well as the character of her opponent. The Clinton campaign has thrown the ‘kitchen sink’ at Barack Obama in the past eight weeks. In addition, Barack Obama has self-inflicted wounds from an ill-conceived remark about small town America and his past association with Reverend Jeremiah Wright. The result has been a less attractive Obama, but a much tougher one, too.

In recent days Pastor Jeremiah Wright resurfaced to give his version of the events which occurred in the past month. He made three important media interventions: one with Bill Moyers on PBS, another at the NAACP conference in Detroit and and yet another at the National Press Club in Washington. His goal was to set the record straight. He believes the media was unfair in its treatment of various excerpts from his post-9/11 sermons to the current campaign. Pastor Wright says he was quoted out of context and the media failed in its overriding obligation to be objective in the circumstances. His appearance on PBS was subdued and well balanced, and had he left it at that, we would all be acknowledging he was a victim of biased reporting and the impact of web 2.0 technology. His speech at the NAACP emphasized the theme that being different does not mean being deficient. His message was presented in a powerful and sometimes funny manner, which only confirmed a speaking style prone to ‘showboating.’ The event of the National Press Club, however, showed a much different picture. Pomposity, arrogance, condescension, and distortion dominated his intervention. It was a sad and sorry spectacle. His dismissive attitude to Senator Obama and what he represented provoked Obama’s later reaction.