This blog was originally published on Forbes as Obama Takes Off The Gloves — And The Jacket –To Endorse Clinton on Wednesday, July 6, 2016.
In his first appearance to campaign for Hillary Clinton yesterday, President Obama accompanied her to the strategically vital state of North Carolina, where the polls have her in a dead heat with Donald Trump. When Mr. Obama stepped off Air Force One with her, he also stepped down from his customary patrician reserve to present in a much more casual, vernacular style.
Count the ways:
- When he stepped up to speak in his shirtsleeves, he leaned on the lectern and began his speech with his own 2008 campaign slogan, asking the enthusiastic crowd in the Charlotte Convention Center, “Are you fired up?” When they roared, “Yes!” he continued “Ready to go?” and he was off to the races.
- He immediately offered several localized references, saying how much he likes the citizens of North Carolina. “When we used to campaign here I used to say, ‘Even the people who aren’t votin’ for me are nice!’”
- For the next forty minutes of the speech, he continued to drop his “g”s, add “Y’all”s, and drawl his vowels.
- He added even more localizing, saying how much he likes North Carolina food, their basketball teams and their Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate and governor who were on stage with him. (The Republican candidates for the same offices declined to appear with Donald Trump who spoke in Raleigh later that evening.)
- Of course, he reverted to his articulate rhetorical form to express his support of Ms. Clinton’s abilities to handle the economy, the environment, and foreign affairs, but he also attacked Donald Trump with the unusual strategy of never mentioning his name. (In a prior Forbes post, I described how George W. Bush used a similar strategy in an earlier campaign speech.) “I know the other guy talks about making America great again.” Then he paused, smiled, and added, “America’s really great!”
- When describing Ms. Clinton’s leadership skills, he said, “Nobody actually knows the job until you’re sitting behind the desk.” To drive the point home, he pronounced the “g” in “sitting.” Then he added, “Everybody can tweet, but nobody actually knows what it takes to do the job until you’re sitting behind the desk.” And then to drive the point home even further, he added, “I mean, Sasha tweets…”
This blog was originally published on Forbes as Obama Takes Off The Gloves — And The Jacket –To Endorse Clinton on Wednesday, July 6, 2016.