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In His Candidate’s Voice

The speech lit a fire. Meet Obama's editor.

By Richard Wolffe | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Jan 6, 2008 | Updated: 7:22  p.m. ET Jan 6, 2008

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  • 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.

  • Posted By: ayoss58 @ 01/08/2008 3:52:35 PM

    Comment: I missed Obama's famous convention speech but sat up all night not to miss his victory speech in Iowa. It was inspiring and upliftingmotivating. He laid to rest finally my fears and convinced me its fine to hope and believe change is possible.
    After New Hampshire, Obama needs to move the conversation to the second higher-level that is, linking change with the substantive issues of this election. Specifics and how to deliver them.But, of more and greater urgency is still lingering myths of experience, Change and experience is like trying to miss water with oil,they don't miss.Experience is the staus quo change means new facesnew policies, new directions.

  • Posted By: av3who @ 01/08/2008 3:29:20 PM

    Comment: belker:
    every candidate has speech writers. obama wrote his own speeches until time constraints made it physically impossible. obama and bush are not comparable. period. do you even know of one of the best presidents of all time who gave perhaps the best political speech of all time, JFK? impassioned words and impassioned delivery motivated america to public service, the moon and the prevention of a nuclear holocaust. WHAT ABOUT LINCOLNS GREAT SPEECH? AND FDR'S? they motivated americans through some tumultuous times. AND IT LOOKS LIKE OBAMA'S 2004 KEYNOTE SPEECH (which he wrote himself) MIGHT VERY WELL DO THE SAME.

  • Posted By: Belker @ 01/08/2008 2:37:43 PM

    Comment: Every one should admit Fevreau is a good speech writer, and Obama is great at delivering the snake oil he writes. Good speeches and good delivery do not a good president make.

    Need evidence? Just look at the current oocuptant of the Whitehouse. As long as he is not speaking off the cuff, Bush is great at delivering the good speeches written by his speech writers. Remember the "Missions accomplished" speech? Impassioned words and impassioned delivery. He is still the worst president the country has produced in the last century. But he is great at delivering well written speeches.

  • Posted By: JohnGaltlaketahoe @ 01/08/2008 2:09:51 PM

    Comment: The Presidential candidate who speaks clearly and truthfully would say the following:
    Under the authority given them by their constitutional oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, Senate and House Committee's on the Judiciary are petitioned indict and impeach this Entire Executive Branch on charges of obstruction of justice leading to illegal international aggression and destabilization of society from New Orleans to Iraq and beyond into the next Presidential term.

  • Posted By: JohnGaltlaketahoe @ 01/08/2008 1:54:29 PM

    Comment: In the hearts and minds of the American electorate I do not know of any speech by any leading candidate that has really sparked a fire. But as for the fuse being lit, 7 years of obstruction of justice in the Executive Branch and in the Office of the Attorney General of the United States leading to the destabilization of society from New Orleans to Iraq should get Bush and Cheney et al, exiled.

  • Posted By: av3who @ 01/08/2008 12:59:06 PM

    Comment: even if obama was muslim (he says he is christian), that should not matter one bit in a country of tolerance and equality. same goes with romney a morman. lets talk about the issues here people. healthcare, immigration the war in iraq.

    cowen if obama's change rhetoric is so empty WHY HAS EVERY OTHER CANDIDATE JUMPED ON THE CHANGE BANDWAGON? they all know that this current administration is abominable and want to stress that they will be different. THEY ARE ALL POLITICIANS. THEY PLAY TO THE POPULIST TIDE. and just because you only listen to soundbytes of speeches doenst mean they dont have substance. stop getting spoon fed your politics by the main stream media and be a responsible citizen and research each candidate first hand. look up debates, voting records, speeches, their stance on issues, read some books. then when you actually have an issue to talk about (ie healthcare) speak. your credibility is zilch. you have no sources. this is EXACTLY the kind of politics WE NEED TO CHANGE FROM.

  • Posted By: cowen123456 @ 01/08/2008 10:54:30 AM

    Comment: American's can not live on sound bites alone. Sound bites created from focus groups and learned gimmicks. The Obama campaign has learned to say what the public wants to hear ...betting on the idea that americans are too stupid to rely on records and experience. Don't let anyone underestimate your intelligence Americans. Ask for specifics and rely on past active in gauging abilities. The presidency is too important, especially in today's world where America is looking to compete with powerful emerging markets and how to position our workers in this global economy. You want jobs? you want security? then it will be experience that can cater the right solution to get us to that place....not talk! Talk will not put money in your pocket to pave the path of ambundant opportunities for your children and grandchildren. Be very careful of talk and be very careful of someone who has such high aim for the presidency that he disregards the idea of experience and knowledge.

  • Posted By: steveo7502 @ 01/07/2008 11:50:22 PM

    Comment: Because obviously, it makes perfect sense that a black candidate must have a racial crowd of supporters behind him. forget beliefs and the fact that every man woman and child on this earth is an individual with a mind and a personality. Let race match with race and be done with it. [Response to first comment]

  • Posted By: cowen123456 @ 01/07/2008 11:22:26 PM

    Comment: Obama's typical speech messages:
    "???.stand by me and we will change the country and the world???".
    " The country needs a real change???."
    "???folks, change is what this country need right now!",
    "???we don't want the same people in the white house, we need change"
    "???I am an agent for change, help me implement change???"
    "???this is a revolution for change!"
    "???..if you vote for me you will be voting for change"

    Notice the lack of content. Notice the repetitive term "change". Notice the lack of willingness to point to any realistic records for change. Notice the lack of details to the changes that he is proposing. Most importantly, notice how broad the definition of 'change' is and how VAGUE it is. A vote for Obama is a vote to confirm that you this country can not be bother with specifics. A vote for Obama is a vote to say???"don't ask don't tell"???..A vote for Obama is a vote for ignorance. The country is at a cross road, we need a Woman who has defy the odds to get where she is now???.a woman who has done the tough battles???.a woman who knows what it really takes to make change happen and know too well that talk is cheap.

    • Posted By: Michamer @ 01/08/2008 09:21:52

      Comment: Oh cowen, Where did you go to school? Pulling a single phrase out of a speech and puttting it together with similar lines from other speeches illustrates a THEME. You have not proved your point that Obama's speeches lack content.

    • Posted By: SpecialK @ 01/08/2008 01:04:28

      Comment: At this stage, he is using the strategy for ppl to be inspired and not be hammered down with the obvious specifics. All three candidates have almost the same specifics and are actually not that different in their policies and plans. Its being insparational that inspires and excites ppl. They can go to his website and get all the specifics they want. But in these early stages, this is the strategy he is using because it works!

    • Posted By: Mastersockmonkey @ 01/07/2008 23:47:18

      Comment: Change is an abbreviated way of stipulating George Bush's administration in the last seven years. He has substance but your not going to get to it in a five minute speech. Go to his website and look for his stance on issues and I believe you will find the substance you are looking for. Oh yeah, I think ousting Bush is quite substantial!

  • Posted By: JohnGaltlaketahoe @ 01/07/2008 11:18:32 PM

    Comment: Obama does have a few good advisors to rely upon. Brezinski and Richard Clark particularly. Clintons advisors are much the same as McCain's and Romney's and Giuliani's. The neocon/evangelica/Israeli support that has fueled an illegal international aggression in Iraq. Handing over a failed Foreign and Domestic Policy of the Bush Administration to a new administration is not being discussed by main presidential candidates. Private media outlets , such as FOX and ABC, are determining for the American electorate who the American electorate will see and hear in Presidential debates. They are a danger to America's electoral process.

  • Posted By: Change is a verb not a platform @ 01/07/2008 9:02:41 PM

    Comment: Where are the black , high profile supporters of Barack? When he is on TV there are mostly whites behind him....is this on purpose?

    • Posted By: SpecialK @ 01/08/2008 01:07:08

      Comment: So far he has only contested in WHITE Majority states (Iowa and NH), so what do you expect? Its not Hillary who manipulates by planting reporters to ask "questions" like she did last month!

  • Posted By: Change is a verb not a platform @ 01/07/2008 9:02:14 PM

    Comment: Where is the black , high profile supporters of Barack? When he is on TV there are mostly whites behind him....is this on purpose?

  • Posted By: USAbob @ 01/07/2008 1:13:06 PM

    Comment: Obama is a 100% American who gets ahead because he is working at it. Not a silver-spooned Texas oil brat. Let's leave religion where it belongs. There's nothing wrong with Muslims, Jews, Mormons, Buddhists and Zorasterians: there's room for more Christ in Christians, though.

  • Posted By: galgameth @ 01/07/2008 12:43:02 PM

    Comment: he was never a muslim, he went to a public school in indonesia, you are a retard.

    • Posted By: SpecialK @ 01/08/2008 01:08:40

      Comment: You are right. What choice did he have when his mother and step dad moved there. He was only a child there and did u see the CNN special where they interviews his former classmates who still remember him and admire him even till today.

  • Posted By: annevilla @ 01/07/2008 9:27:19 AM

    Comment: "OBAMA PORTRAIT MUSIC VIDEO" on Youtube - Don't Miss It!

    For those of you who still have not heard:

    There is a WONDERFUL and INSPIRING music video on Youtube.com entitled "Obama Portrait Music Video by Bjarne O."
    You can use the free downloaded high-quality stereo version from the composer's website in DVD form to show at house parties. Even people who knew nothing at all about Obama have been moved: either a thrilling introduction, or further inspiration for those of us who already know and fight for Obama.
    The music soundtrack, which incorporates excerpts from the famous 2004 speech, can also be downloaded separately in high-quality.

    It is an uplifting and informative campaign tool - so please, SPREAD THE WORD!

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=mCPwbozpIzM

    Together for Obama,
    Anne

  • Posted By: bharvey @ 01/07/2008 12:35:49 AM

    Comment: he only edited the speech. all candidates have their speeches edited.

  • Posted By: SteveBallmer @ 01/06/2008 9:16:31 PM

    Comment: Speech writers should have to sign agreements to shut their pie-holes for a full four years! The public likes to believe that the candidate is speaking from the heart!

    http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com

    • Posted By: cyberella @ 01/07/2008 11:42:45

      Comment: Obama is an empty suit pimped by the media. Wait until he is forced to answer some questions about his Muslim past and ties.

      • Posted By: adam in iowa city @ 01/08/2008 12:40:07

        Comment: Cyberella, this story has been debunked time and again. Why are you trying to stir up anti-Muslim bigotry to begin with? If you are so confirmed in your hatred, there's a war on in Iraq that's looking for some more volunteers.

      • Posted By: julian7 @ 01/08/2008 06:32:02

        Comment: it does not matter what a person's belief is, it is personal after all. We all have our ways of seeing which is the best way to reach heaven, hope you have found yours and so live to accept the beliefs of others, God is not judging, why should you?

      • Posted By: SpecialK @ 01/08/2008 01:14:06

        Comment: What Muslim days??? Not that religion should matter for a candidate, be it Mormon or whatever. Obama worked as a community organizer for his church right after his IVY league education. Not thats a testament to his character and ideals!

 
 
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