By far, the highlight of the curtain-raiser was the Ted Kennedy tribute, the video of the sea as a backdrop for a tragic figure in many ways, who has navigated some choppy waters in his lifetime, but still returned to the sea as his sanctuary, worked splendidly.
Undoubtedly, there were many wistful eyes watching the 76 year-old senator amble to the stage, (slightly hunched-over), with the help of his wife Vicky, looking older and grayer, but still peddling his life-long crusade for universal health care, which in Kennedy�s shouting words should be ``a fundamental right not a privilege��
I didn�t think Michelle Obama�s speech, on the other hand, was all that impressive. In fact, it was disappointing. It�s understandable her delivery was a little choppy. After all, she not a pol, it just underscored she�s not familiar reading from a teleprompter.
The problem, I thought, despite a fantastic introductory video (especially as narrated by her mother, Marion) was that the Democratic nominee�s wife never really found her voice. The tempo of her words during the 19 minute speech sounded too much like Barack on the campaign trail. If voters were hoping to get to know the real Michelle Monday, most, I fear, were sadly disappointed, other than knowing by way of her brother Craig Robison (who introduced her) that she�s a passionate Brady Bunch fan and played the piano as a child.
She did try to tell her story with her own personal signature (``See, that�s why�.��) about her early years on the mean streets of Chicago, seeing her father victimized by multiple sclerosis, getting an Ivy League education, and returning to her roots. But again, it sounded too much like Barack�s story, not hers.
One eerie moment during Mrs. Obama�s speech was when she acknowledged Hillary Clinton. For a moment, you could hear the sound of her own clapping, as if she was the only one putting her hands together; possibly a harbinger of the tension mounting between Clinton and Obama supporters, which will come to a climax Tuesday night when the New York senator enters the Pepsi Center.
You would have thought having the Obama children on stage after their mother�s speech would have been an endearing television moment, but it turned out to be clumsy and not very well rehearsed, especially when Malia Ann and Natasha tried to communicate with their Dad via satellite from Kansas City, Mo.
Watching the entire Obama clan step on each other�s words, reminded me of W.C. Fields caveat about working with little tykes: ``Children should neither be seen nor heard from-ever again��
-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
Undoubtedly, there were many wistful eyes watching the 76 year-old senator amble to the stage, (slightly hunched-over), with the help of his wife Vicky, looking older and grayer, but still peddling his life-long crusade for universal health care, which in Kennedy�s shouting words should be ``a fundamental right not a privilege��
I didn�t think Michelle Obama�s speech, on the other hand, was all that impressive. In fact, it was disappointing. It�s understandable her delivery was a little choppy. After all, she not a pol, it just underscored she�s not familiar reading from a teleprompter.
The problem, I thought, despite a fantastic introductory video (especially as narrated by her mother, Marion) was that the Democratic nominee�s wife never really found her voice. The tempo of her words during the 19 minute speech sounded too much like Barack on the campaign trail. If voters were hoping to get to know the real Michelle Monday, most, I fear, were sadly disappointed, other than knowing by way of her brother Craig Robison (who introduced her) that she�s a passionate Brady Bunch fan and played the piano as a child.
She did try to tell her story with her own personal signature (``See, that�s why�.��) about her early years on the mean streets of Chicago, seeing her father victimized by multiple sclerosis, getting an Ivy League education, and returning to her roots. But again, it sounded too much like Barack�s story, not hers.
One eerie moment during Mrs. Obama�s speech was when she acknowledged Hillary Clinton. For a moment, you could hear the sound of her own clapping, as if she was the only one putting her hands together; possibly a harbinger of the tension mounting between Clinton and Obama supporters, which will come to a climax Tuesday night when the New York senator enters the Pepsi Center.
You would have thought having the Obama children on stage after their mother�s speech would have been an endearing television moment, but it turned out to be clumsy and not very well rehearsed, especially when Malia Ann and Natasha tried to communicate with their Dad via satellite from Kansas City, Mo.
Watching the entire Obama clan step on each other�s words, reminded me of W.C. Fields caveat about working with little tykes: ``Children should neither be seen nor heard from-ever again��
-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
Comments