Democrats are feeling encouraged after last night’s speech from first lady Michelle Obama—and with good reason. She turned in a stirring performance, taking a speech that was well written and delivering it just as well, if not better. But the communications team at the Democratic National Convention should also be left wondering why some of the other speeches of the night fell flat, most notably that of Julian Castro, the San Antonio mayor for whom the unreasonably high expectations turned out to be a burden rather than spring board.
Part of the problem is that when you get compared to Barack Obama in 2004, you better be charismatic, and Castro doesn’t quite have the easy yet confident charm Obama displayed. Castro, like an actor who looks like he’s acting, was visibly working to produce what didn’t come naturally. Another factor was the general tone of the evening: whereas the GOP convention theme was that Obama is a good man but not a good president, last night’s DNC lineup was a particularly nasty string of speakers clawing at Mitt Romney’s character. In 2004, Obama showed an ability to speak above the partisan fray. Last night, Castro was just another participant in a one-sided cafeteria food fight.
But it was also the text of the speech. It started off well, with Castro telling poignant stories of his grandmother, noting that when Castro and his twin brother (who introduced him last night) were born, their grandmother paid the hospital bill with prize money from winning a cook-off. He told his family’s classic immigrant story, made all the more powerful by describing the Texas bootstrap culture they ended up in—a place where the hard work was only beginning.
But the speech quickly got bogged down in awkward phrases and unsteady delivery. Castro transitioned clumsily from describing the American dream and upward mobility to this: “And that’s the middle class—the engine of our economic growth. With hard work, everybody ought to be able to get there. And with hard work, everybody ought to be able to stay there!” And then, almost as an afterthought, finished the line: “—and go beyond!” From that, the paragraph veered into confused metaphors and clunky lines: “The dream of raising a family in a place where hard work is rewarded is not unique to Americans. It’s a human dream, one that calls across oceans and borders. The dream is universal, but America makes it possible. And our investment in opportunity makes it a reality.”
And unfortunately with Obama in office, the DNC was never far from demonstrating the cult of personality that has followed the president since his presidential run four years ago. Castro, rather than offering ideas, served up one of the most cringe-inducing examples of it when he said: “We all celebrate individual success. But the question is, how do we multiply that success? The answer is President Barack Obama.”
And there were lines that were plain awful–not just cheesy, but bordering on the nonsensical. The worst example was this: “In the end, the American dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay. Our families don’t always cross the finish line in the span of one generation. But each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor.”
You can only elevate bad writing so high, and Castro was saddled with a speech few could have elevated to meet the expectations of the moment.
Michelle Obama should make any normal person cringe, even if she were reading the Ten Commandments verbatim.
Why should she make any "normal person" cringe? Isn't it enough to disagree with the ideas and the politics she stands for?
BDZ probably meant any normal, sleeved person.
love the "normal sleeved" comment. Its true, why does she always have to show off her arms, like she just came from a workout or going to one. We know she has the time and the money to do so, dont rub it in. She does not come off like a Frist Lady. No other first lady here or Europe ever dresses this way. Its the "Look at Me" syndrome". A little pathetic.
I think that Castro sounded exactly like the Republican Hispanics who also talked about their parents' struggles, with the exception of the Democrats' stale talking points, which he recited without much enthusiasm. If he remains uncorrupted by Democrat machine politics, there is a good chance he will follow Martinez' lead, realize he is a Republican at heart and switch parties.
I had a similar reaction. I don't know anything about Mayor Castro, but reading his speech I got to thinking that maybe he is a Democrat just because people of his ethnicity in his neighborhood were Democrats. It would make sense, then, that the parts of his speech that worked were those that expounded upon the values of hard work and responsibility (paying the medical bills), while the parts that didn't tried to square those values with the "We belong to the government and owe everything to Obama" theme. nAll of which leads me to believe that the Hispanic vote is far from locked up for the Democrats down the road – but it's not just Hispanics. How many Democrats are beginning to realize that the values they inherently embrace are undermined by the Party they support? It's an open question, and I don't think we'll get a complete answer in November. I know I have seen those doubts increasing amongst many of my white, middle-class liberal friends and colleagues over the past couple of years. Whether or not they vote for Obama, they are no longer certain that the values he represents are really their values.
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It's banal but it never ceases to amaze me how much ideology bends assessment. I thought, as is above suggested, that M.O. gave for D purposes an effective speech, differ from her how I might. But from the parts I saw, Castro's speech was labored and the Mandels' are right, I think, to note how labored it was, as if the guy was trying too hard. But from liberal media, he's a "rising star" and his speech was a reincarnation of Obama's 2004 keynoter. It wasn't even close. Obama's of 2004 swept me up. Castro's had me sharply noting its flatness, woodenness, and lack of grace and charm, for all his striving to do otherwise.
I disagree, I think the entire evening of speakers was pretty flat and predictable. They showed no real talent for public speaking and provided no relavant information of how the DNC would move "Forward". nIf this was suppose to begin the convention and fire up the crowd it was like this administration a miserable failure. Watch the crowd during the speech and you can see them waiting for something to inspire them and you saw that nothing was coming from the stage to do that.