"To what purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing,
if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?"
-- Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 1803

Saturday, August 23, 2008

One of the low points of the 1988 Democrat Convention was when Anne Richards read out a letter from a constituent about how bad her life was.  Looks like history is repeating itself:

An Indiana railroader, an Iowa mother and a Michigan truck driver are getting a moment at the Democratic convention to help portray Barack Obama as the people’s champion and counter GOP characterizations of him as an out-of-touch celebrity.

The idea is for these “real people,” as the campaign calls them, to share personal stories about why they are supporting the Democratic presidential candidate and how they think he will help folks like them and the more than 20 million expected to be watching the convention at home.

Bringing in “real people” to show that you understand them is the clearest sign possible that you yourself are not a “real person”.  In conservative America, we refer “real people” as “people”.

Their prime-time speeches, combined with the convention’s move to the much larger, 75,000-seat Invesco Field at Mile High football stadium in Denver for Obama’s acceptance speech, are designed to portray his campaign as a vast movement for change bringing in Americans from all walks of life.

...

The real people can talk about economic struggles from a personal perspective and why they see Obama as their champion, drawing a contrast with GOP candidate John McCain. The Obama campaign portrays McCain as promising more of the same in Washington.

Mike Fisher, an Amtrak machinist from Beach Grove, Ind., will talk about Obama’s visit to his house for a lunch of Subway sandwiches.

“When I saw that motorcade come down the cul-de-sac, I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t swallow. Within a couple minutes, he put us at so much ease,” Fisher said. “I’m just a poor railroader. I’ve got a small house, and a family I’m trying to raise. Barack and Michelle can relate to that because of their upbringing.”

He jokes that his family is the “whole ball of wax” when it comes to Obama’s campaign platform — he worries about job security, with Amtrak facing tough financial times; two of his children are struggling to pay college loans; his son has a new baby and no health insurance; and his son-in-law is in the National Guard facing possible deployment to Iraq.

Other speakers were chosen because of their circumstances, and their residency in targeted battleground states for the fall campaign.

_Pamella Cash-Roper and her husband, of Pittsboro, N.C., are unemployed due to health problems and can’t afford gas to leave the house much.

_Xiomara Rodriguez, of Reno, Nev., served in the U.S. Coast Guard and is concerned about veterans affairs.

_Beth Robinson, of Chesapeake, Va., has multiple sclerosis and, as the wife of a Marine who has served repeated tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, is concerned about the housing market’s decline on their future relocations and being a single parent when her husband is deployed.

_Roy Gross, a truck driver from Taylor, Mich., is a single father to a college-age daughter.

During the weekend, the campaign formally invited these people to the convention, providing airfare, lodging and great seats to watch Obama accept the nomination from a circular stage on the 50-yard line at Invesco Field. The real people and delegates attending their first convention will be among the roughly 300 people sitting directly around the stage.

Well, I’m sure they’ll speak from the heart.

Professional speechwriters are helping prepare their remarks, timed to about three minutes each. And just like any senator or other VIP speaker, an assigned staff member will oversee their schedules and logistical movements, including media interviews, speech coaching and on-stage rehearsals.

It’s amazing and depressing how quickly Obama’s Hope and Change Express has been transmogrified into yet another Democrat Sobfest.  I have no doubt these people have problems, as do a lot of Americans.  But it’s one thing to highlight people’s misery.  It’s another to propose sensible policy to deal with it.  And the planks of the Democratic platform—high taxes, big spending, government healthcare, protectionism and Soviet-style education, are either causing these people’s problems or going to make them worse.

Going point by point (and I’m away from home, or I’d hyperlink the hell out of this paragraph).  Amtrack is a government-created monopoly.  Healthcare is difficult to get, in part, because of the kind of coverage mandates that Barack Obama has enthusiastically supported.  College is expensive, in part, because of the open-ended commitment of federal loan programs.  Gas is expensive, in part, because of Democratic opposition to drilling.  And Obama just tapped as his Veep a man who is a firm believer in American interventionism.

Also notice this line in the AP story:

Obama has an extra challenge since he is expected to become the first black nominee of a major party, the subject of racism and smear campaigns questioning his background and patriotism.

I’ve avoided the Right Wing Ecosphere me of “any criticism of Obama is portrayed as racism”.  But this is ridiculous.  Can the AP name for me anything McCain has said that is a racial smear?  He’s specifically blasted people for using “Hussein” as a pejorative.  Even Rush Limbaugh isn’t attacking Obama on race.  Very few are questioning Obama’s patriotism; we’re questioning his increasingly far-left ideas.