No Man’s Blog

UPDATE: Beth at Blue Star Chronicles takes at look at what she calls the “Obamessiah” complex. Interesting.

ORIGINAL POST: On the evolution of Senator Barack Obama’s style of public speaking.

I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but it seems the good senator has undergone somewhat of a transformation.

First, let’s take a look at an excerpt from Obama’s keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. (WARNING: Gag reflex alert here. The Obamista who created this “homemade ad” set it to some sort of morbidly sentimental background music and made a point of highlighting the drooling, mindless horde of automatons in the audience.) Without further ado:

Okay, I admit it. It’s a damned good speech in which Obama delivers the typical Democrat pie-in-the-sky promises to a crowd of brainwashed and overly-gullible dreamers. I grant, however, that there’s good reason for people to say that it was this particular speech that made the name Barack Obama a household word.

As an aside, I was speaking to my father the other day, and he asked me if I had noticed how scary the crowds at Obama speeches are. I asked him what he meant, and he said (and I paraphrase), “did you see how many of the people behind him seem to be crying or in a trance?” He’s right, of course. And it is scary. Just take a look at this screenshot from the video. I wonder what would happen if this limp-wristed poofter’s father saw this video?

Yeah, his dad would probably send him off to the Marines….

However, I digress.

Let’s take a look at the victory speech Obama delivered in Madison, Wisconsin following his sweep of this month’s Potomac primaries in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C.:

What I noticed in this speech is that his style of delivery has changed considerably since the 2004 keynote speech. Gone is the heavy Midwest (Chicago) emphasis on the letter R, and gone are the traces of a Midwest twang that were evident in the 2004 keynote address. The pace of his delivery has slowed considerably, and he seems to have mastered the strategic and successful use of the silent pause. He staggers his cadence more often now, and emphasizes these changes by increasing or decreasing the volume of his voice. He seems to have made a conscious study of the pulpit stylings of religious leaders on the one hand, and the oratory stylings of civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jesse Jackson on the other. At one point—when speaking of the “Obamicans”–he even seems to borrow from the repertoire of comedian Bill Cosby.

He frequently takes a theme, runs with it, varies it, riffs on it, and rhymes with it. He riffs on the “United States of America” theme in BOTH speeches. Which is fine. Why would he change something that works, after all?

And is it my imagination, or does the Barack Obama of today sound a little “blacker” than the Barack Obama of 2004? Maybe he’s more comfortable in his own skin now. Which would be a good thing.

Now all he needs to do is get a platform.

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