From the ‘mile-high’ city of Denver, Colo., the Democratic National Convention took over from Aug. 25-28. These four days and nights of speeches, videos, memoirs and celebration blanketed the news media across the country.
Though there were many rumors of a divided Democratic Party that would emerge during and possibly continue after the convention because of the close primary race between Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, by the end of these four days it looked like a party united and ready to take back the presidency of the United States.
Despite the media hype of this divisive split between Obama supporters and Clinton supporters, highlighted by the continual talk of the PUMAs (which stands for Party Unity My Ass), it was Hillary Clinton who interrupted the official roll call to move that Obama be selected by acclimation and therefore receive his official nomination for president.
Obama accepted this nomination one night later in front of a crowd of many more than the 75,000 seating capacity at INVESCO Field, where he gave the first acceptance speech outdoors since President John Kennedy in 1960.
Interestingly, Kennedy is the Democratic president that Obama is compared to the most, especially in regard to his speech-giving skills and his youthful charisma.
As for the convention specifics, the four-day event had a theme for each day. The first day was named “One Nation,” and we saw a moving speech from Michelle Obama who concentrated on showing her personal, family side.
Along with that there was an unexpected appearance of Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy who made what could be the last of his many ringing speeches as he ended with, “The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on.”
Tuesday’s activities were given the name “Renewing America’s promise” as Hillary Clinton took the stage quelling any party division by calling for the Democrats to unite for this presidential race.
Hillary Clinton also addressed Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain as she declared, “No way, no how, no McCain.”
Wednesday at the Convention the theme was “Securing America’s Future,” as we saw former President Bill Clinton take the stage and address many important policy issues claiming Republican failures in many areas.
Along with this, he too helped to end the Clinton-Obama split by showing his full support of Obama.
Michael Clark, a sophomore political science major, saw the Clintons’ speeches as being the most pivotal.
“The Clintons’ speeches, taken together, pretty much sealed the deal for the Obama campaign in terms of eliminating the so-called ‘insurgency’ within the party,” Clark said. “Both (were) very important speeches that were unwavering in support of Sen. Obama.”
Also Wednesday night, Sen. Joe Biden accepted his nomination as the vice presidential candidate, bringing his hometown, family story to the world, along with his foreign policy expertise.
Opinions of this nomination are varied, as Kris Carlson, a senior music major, said, “This last week, since Obama’s announcement of Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as his vice president choice, several of my most liberal friends shared with me their disgust in this selection.”
But just the same, Clark commented on Biden by saying, “Biden is pure gold, and his kitchen table imagery has taken hold.
“He’s skilled in Washington, but frankly, anyone who thinks there’s no maverick in Joe Biden hasn’t been paying attention. Biden’s been chomping at the bit for years to shake things up.”
Finally on Thursday evening, Obama officially accepted his nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate and gave his nomination speech. More than 38 million people across many cable and broadcast networks tuned in to watch the historic moment – the first African-American to be nominated for president by one of the major political parties.
Though his speech was not heavily concentrated on lofty ideals but rather on a point-by-point policy comparison between him and McCain, it still resonated deeply in the minds of many Americans.
Sgt. Major Terry Duncan, a recently retired member of the U.S. Army Airborne Rangers and US SOCOM as well as an ETSU political science major, recently joined the group “Republicans for Obama.”
“It’s about time someone took a stand to get rid of these bureaucracies that do nothing but eat away at our economy,” Duncan said.
Needless to say, Obama and the Democratic Party came out of this four-day convention strong, united and willing to go ‘toe-to-toe’ with Sen. John McCain to win the presidency of the United States.
This will be a historical election – regardless of the outcome.

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