Great Expectations

Friday, August 29, 2008 | 11:18 AM

By Sarah Scully
Keenly aware of the hype surrounding his speech, Barack Obama sought to change the expectations rather than meet them. On the anniversary of the "I Have a Dream" speech, at an undoubtedly historic moment in American politics, many thought Obama would attempt to elevate himself to Dr. King's level and continue to make the case that this was his destiny but he was smart not to do that. His campaign has seldom missed a beat in reading the conventional wisdom and they were clearly aware that the grand spectacle needed to be tempered by some earthy toughness, lest their candidate would prove arrogant and presumptuous. Trying for such lofty heights means that much farther to fall, so he instead went for something entirely different and more humble while still putting on an entertaining show. Splitting the difference was tricky though, the candidate moved the ball forward for the most part but the combination of authentic, blue collar voters, pragmatic concerns ("Looking out for Barney Smith not Smith Barney") and the glittered spectacle of a rock concert and fireworks display at times seemed awkward. Republicans have been getting decent traction attacking Obama as a superficial celebrity with a concerning Messianic fervor surrounding him. Obama needed to get out from under the notion that he saw himself as the second coming and so the "hopemonger" gave a speech that was very different than what we are used to hearing- not inspiring and full of wonder but plain spoken and tough with specific policy points. Hitting nearly every concern his opponent and the media have brought up in recent weeks, Obama almost toveremphasized that was a Regular Joe (just like his running mate), shouting: "This election is not about me. It's about you!" In a style similar to Ronald Reagan, Obama directed cutting remarks at his rival embedded in respectful praise, specifically honoring McCain's military record and explaining that his worthy opponent was not a bad person, "he just doesn't get it." He planted the seeds for future attacks on McCain's temperament and age. He may now be accused of being too mean by voters and the GOP will undoubtedly continue to exploit his unavoidable celebrity and point out errors in his "data" and policy ideas but Obama has for the most part, accomplished setting up an effective game plan for the fall.

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