The Obamas and the Kaines (Lowell - 2/19/2007 9:34:53 PM)
We've got two videos from the JJ Dinner last Saturday.
The first is a a set of highlights that runs approx 11 minutes. I've already heard that not everyone's favorite highlight made it... sorry, that's the nature of these things. So enjoy it for what it is.
The second video is all of Barack Obama's speech except for 45 seconds near the end. I had to change tapes at that point and lost a short bit of it. Blame Governor Kaine - if he'd been a little shorter it would have all fit. Oh, ok, you can't blame a politician for talking. I'll figure out a better tape management strategy next time.
1) JJ Dinner Highlights
2) Barack Obama's Speech
Viewing Tips
If you saw my comment yesterday you already know that the video didn't come out the way we'd hoped. The press risers were not too solid and caused significant vibration in my lightweight tripod whenever anyone moved. So if you suffer from motion sickness you may not want to watch.
Plus, I compressed the video to save disk space which means the viewing size is meant to be fairly small. If the video looks horrible at full screen size (trust me, it will), try shrinking the size of your browser until the video looks better.
In any case, Mrs. Clinton's speech was, as you said, Lowell, very good. Frankly, I found it to be far fuller of real substance, real meat, than Obama's speech at the J-J (which I did attend, and so heard him personally). Then she took a boatload of questions from the audience, and it was obvious they were real questions, not plants. The woman is nimble on her feet and had an impressive understanding of the subject matter on just about every question, and often she had introduced relevant legislation.
I was impressed also by the quality of the questions, and the grasp otherwise ordinary citizens had of what has been going on in Washington, black, white, male and female, made no difference--- they have been paying attention. They may be outside the Beltway, and the DLC may have been writing them off, but there was plenty of evidence they know more than the spinmeisters give them credit for. Yes, the venue was a University, so the education level was higher than average, but there were questions on everything from Disabled American Act to CAFTA to health care to No Child Left Behind, can a woman be president,and one woman presented a poem (unread).
Mrs. Clinton has a base, she seems to be perhaps the most intelligent of the candidates so far, regardless of party, and she's a fighter. An impressive combination.