In His Candidate’s Voice
The speech lit a fire. Meet Obama's editor.
Jon Favreau has the worst and the best job in political speechwriting. His boss is a best-selling author who doesn't really need his help, having written the 2004 speech that catapulted him onto the national stage. At the same time, the same boss also happens to be capable of delivering a speech in ways that can give his audience the goosebumps.
But Barack Obama is more than a little busy campaigning across Iowa and New Hampshire right now. So it was Favreau who led the team that wrote Obama's victory speech in Des Moines last week—a moment that prompted the TV pundits to drop months of skepticism about Obama's candidacy to make breathless comparisons with the Kennedy era.
For Favreau, a 26-year-old jean-clad staffer (who is no relation to the comedian of "Swingers" fame) who worked in Obama's senate office, the contrast with the 2004 election could not be starker.
Back then Jon Favreau had one of the worst jobs on the Kerry campaign. He was the kid who put together "the audio clips"—the bundle of overnight stories that helped the campaign's senior staff get up to speed on the latest radio news. A graduate of Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., he had interned in Kerry's senate office and joined the campaign right out of college.
When Kerry's campaign showed signs of imploding—before recovering again in Iowa—Favreau was one of the few people left in the office when they needed a new speechwriter. "They couldn't afford to hire one," he recalled. "And they couldn't find anyone who wanted to come in when we were about to lose to Dean. So I became deputy speechwriter, even though I had no previous experience."
When Kerry lost in 2004, Favreau thought he was finished with politics. "After the Kerry campaign, after all the backbiting and nastiness, my idealism and enthusiasm for politics was crushed," he said. "I was grateful for the experience I got, but it was such a difficult
experience, along with losing, that I was done. It took Barack to rekindle that."
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Member Comments
Posted By: SurfVt @ 02/27/2008 1:28:54 PM
Comment: Barack is our national statesman. He can make every citizen understand that it is his adminstration which will draw the best minds of the world together to bring world peace through diplomacy. When he makes a few honest promises which can be kept , on schedule, he will see victory, not for himself, but for our nation. Returning veterans can be rewarded with jobs and educational opportunities created by economic development invigorated by his administration's commitment to rebuild our infrastructure first. Every man and woman in the world wants the same basic things at the end of the day. Obama has the stamina and the diplomatic intellect to begin to undo the mistakes of the last 16 years which I'm certain will take 20 years or more.
Posted By: Adelle @ 02/12/2008 3:25:50 PM
Comment: It's great that JohnTexas is so familiar with people on welfare. How many welfare recipients does he personally know? How many has he had discussions with? Has he asked anyone why s/he was receiving welfare?
Does JohnTexas have the same vitriol for corporate welfare? Growing up in South Texas, did he learn that the U.S. spends over $92 billion per year on subsidies? Does he know what subsidies are?
It's wonderful that JohnTexas is so enlightened about welfare recipients and that he has been so competent as to have never needed monetary assistance. Certainly, there are individuals who abuse the system, who are lazy, parasitic people who should immediately be cut off from receiving aid.
Nonetheless, assuming 99% of "people are welfare" are lazy, baby-popping, high school dropouts would be similar to assuming 99% South Texans are moronic, arrogant idiots.
And that would be incorrect, wouldn't it?
Posted By: JohnTexas @ 02/07/2008 3:14:05 PM
Comment: This guy needs to get a real job and work in the real world.
What in the world does defending the right of welfare recipients mean.
I grew up in South Texas and 99% of people are welfare because they are too lazy to work or they drop out of high school and start having kids that they can???t support so they rely on the rest of us.
A safety net welfare system for US citizens is fine for a few months until the person gets a job and even some continuing support if the job
does not pay enough for a single person. But if you are struggling to eat don???t have kids one after the other and except handouts.