Weirdness at the Double O corral
Did anyone else happen to see the entire Obama campaign event in Des Moines featuring Oprah Winfrey?
I just want to check to see if I'm the only one that felt it was a disaster, that Obama seemed almost drunk and completely off-balance for at least the first ten minutes of his appearance, and that he seemed to have lost his composure for most of the rest.
Granted, I saw the C-Span broadcast live, and as was the case with the famous incident where Howard Dean was unfairly crucified for simply letting out a whoop, when you're watching an event with a huge boisterous and vocal crowd, but you're only hearing audio from one person's microphone, it often sounds weird, as the speaker is hearing things you're not, and reacting to them. The speaker's voice also seems WAY louder than necessary, as you're not picking up the deafening roar of the crowd that they're shouting over.
But Obama rambled, and I mean rambled, for far too long when he came on stage in attempt after attempt to praise Oprah to the heavens, even comparing her to Martin Luther King, Jr. at one point. Weird.
He went on and on and on like this, as if he simply was stalling for time until he could remember what he was supposed to say in his actual speech. Then he seemed shaky in getting to the actual speech, his microphone kept cutting out as he shouted so loudly into it the sound was distorted almost to the point where you couldn't make out what he was saying.
In other words, at least from the position I viewed it, it seemed like a disaster, and only more so due to the massive hype that has been given to the fact that Oprah was going to go on the stump for him.
It was a golden opportunity, with a massive crowd that even a candidate used to attracting huge crowds couldn't have drawn on his own. The media were focused like a laser beam. It was Obama's day in the sun.
And it seemed like an embarassing train wreck in my view.
Click the C-Span link above to view the event online.
Anyone else see it and have a different perspective?
posted by The Inside Dope @ 12/09/2007
11 comments
11 Comments:
Are you going to sue Obama for not living up to your expectations, or Opra as she has deeper pockets?
I imagine C-SPAN share some of the culpability?
Hey Dope,
One thing I was able to gather from the register was that many people left after Oprah spoke. The roads were really bad out there last night and the speculation was that people wanted to get out while they could. I could see the mass exodus throwing Barack off of his game. I can also see him wanting to stall the main part of his speech after everyone who was about to leave left. I have friends who had tickets to see them in CR last night but couldn't make it up because 380 was all but shut down last night. I'm sure the turn out was lower there as well.
All that being said, I watched his interview with google a while back ( here ) and he seemed a little off. I wouldn't be surprised if he is exhausted but it's not for naught. I think he will win Iowa by a larger-than-expected margin. He has a tiny lead in the polls here right now and they're ignoring and/or not able to poll those of us 30 and under.
All three of my numbers are, technically, illegal to poll.
That didn't stop Huckabee from push-polling me though =P.
Anon 6:18
Naw... I've never sued anyone in my life, though I've had a few instances where it was clearly justified and I would have easily won, not to mention stood to have gotten a substantial amount of money.
I've had people (including attorneys) criticize me for NOT suing, saying I was a fool not to.
For instance, I could sue you for being an insufferable boob and win handily. But what would be the point? I don't have to go to court to prove that. It's obvious.
C-Span was at fault as something went terribly wrong with their audio feed. Large portions of the speech as well as the call in segement afterwards were nothing but garbled static.
Tiz,
I've just re-watched the event and Obama did manage to get back on topic and get his speech going from about mid-point on.
Again, it's the situation where the audio was from the speaker's mic only, with no other mics picking up the crowd, and that always leads to it making the speaker sound odd. The listener can't hear shouted comments from the crowd that the speaker responds to, they can't hear the level of noise and cheering, and it's just a poor way of recording such events.
As I said, that's essentially what happened to Dean, as the mic recorded only his battle yelp and not how loud the crowd was roaring at the time, which would have made it seem not odd at all. As a matter of fact, there was a recording done from the crowd of that event and the famous "yeaahh" didn't even stand out at all.
But Obama did manage to get back into his stump speech, and though he was often shouting towards the end (and again, this sounded bad without the crowd noise which would have justified it) he managed to get it together for the most part.
But at the beginning, it seemed he really was off-balance and not sure what to do next.
I found it of greater interest due to the fact that on the Sunday gab fest shows, a few pundits were asserting that Obama was finally "comfortable in his own skin" and really hitting his stride as a campaigner.
This event seemed to contradict that.
But that said, I'm sure it won't hurt him in any way. He's on a roll, has the cash, has the charisma, has the organization, and with Hillary simultaniously sinking due to her own votes and performance, (with the Obama campaign's help), he has every shot at taking it all.
If you are not going to sue, maybe you can get your favorite trial lawyer --- John "I made so much cash in four years that I never have to work again" Edwards to do your dirty work?
Only one problem Chester,
I don't have any "dirty work" to do.
But if I did need a lawyer, I'd much rather have a brilliant and successful one that some callow, ignorant frat boy who never worked a day in his life, yet has far, far more money than Edwards could ever dream of.
That, of course, would be the ever popular hero you support.
Really, don't you ever get even slightly embarrassed by submitting these absolutely idiotic and hypocritical comments?
Yeah I see it differently: Oprah should have endorsed Duncan Hunter and had him on her show... as often as she did Obama. If Oprah would have sat down with Congressman Hunter and if she had given him a chance, she'd find that he has a much more interesting background than Barack Obama and his qualifications make him much better suited to be commander-in-chief.
Nico,
Isn't he the whack job who said that if we were ever attacked by terrorists again we should immediately blow up Mecca?
I'd say the only thing that qualifies him for is the nut house.
Hunter is a minority too, you know. Most, if not all, of the chickenshit GOP candidates could have served in Vietnam (only Rudy didn't support the war). Hunter is one of the few who actually served.
Is Hunter still married to his first wife? That would definitely put him in the minority in this field of "social conservatives".
Dope, you already hit on it, but I do think the major problems you had with the speech can be laid at the feet of C-Span. There audio was terrible, and even one of the callers from Philly (I think) said the audio was cutting out. I think the speech went very well (after I saw it again with no sound cutoff). He did seem a little off his game for the first few minutes, but I think he wasn't sure how to handle Oprah. As soon as she told him to move on, he did, and the stump speech kicked in.
I think Oprah can not hurt him. Will she be the deciding factor? Probably not. In Iowa people who would vote for someone because of Oprah aren't going to caucus anyway. That changes in New Hampshire and South Carolina, however.
Mark my words. Obama wins Iowa. He then takes second or first in New Hampshire. He then wins South Carolina. We are two Super Duper (whatever the hell you want to call it) Tuesday, and he is the front runner. In the words of Hillary, "That is when the fun begins."
P.S. Anyone else feel bad for Nevada? They moved their primary/caucus up, and still, no one cares.
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