Thousands of delegates and potentially millions of TV viewers know full well Barack Obama’s acceptance speech tonight is on the 45th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech on the National Mall in Washington.
Comparisons and contrasts between Obama and King are an hourly occurrence at caucuses, forums and in interviews across Denver during the Democratic National Convention.
“Being on the anniversary, this is a historical moment to have a black nominee of a major political party,” Florida delegate Michael Lockwood said. “That, in itself, turns the page of the past.”
And yet Obama and party leaders have responded to weeks of Republican attacks on the nominee’s rhetoric by promising a sharper speech heavier with specifics.
“I’m not aiming for a lot of high rhetoric,” Obama told reporters in Illinois. He said it would be “workmanlike,” with plenty of policy details.
Speech scholars, meanwhile, urged Obama not to go too deep into wonkishness. The candidate needs to show he’ll have a good grasp of government, said University of Wisconsin professor Stephen Lucas, who asked colleagues to name the 100 most important political speeches of the 20th century. (“I Have a Dream” was easily No. 1.)
But he’ll also need to give nods to the historic moment and inspire an audience of 80,000 to leave Invesco Field at Mile High fired up for the campaign, Lucas said.
“Nobody in his right mind would choose to speak on that day,” Lucas laughed. “I don’t think he can avoid the rhetorical shadow, the moral shadow, the political shadow. I think it poses some opportunities for Obama, but also some problems. ”
Some African-American leaders awaiting the Denver speech warned delegates and pundits not to treat the anniversary speech as proof that King’s long-ago “dream” has now been fulfilled.
“Everybody I know missed the speech” 45 years ago, U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina said at a forum on black politics. “Go back and read his speech.”
He said he hoped Obama would focus on King’s phrases about “the urgency of now” and “the toxicity of gradualism,” not settling for mere symbolism to change daily life.
When Obama does refer to similar themes, Lucas said, he is likely to “de-racialize” King’s indictment of injustice to make it apply to all downtrodden Americans.
Michael Booth: 303-954-1686 or mbooth@denverpost.com
