8/27/08

Campaign for Change Watch Party


August 27, 2008

Editor's Picks

Campaign for Change Watch Party

»For Bluebloods

Campaign for Change Watch Party

Thurs., Aug. 28, 8pm. Free. Independence Mall, Fifth and Market sts. 267.886.8591. my.barackobama.com

Surely the historical significance of watching Barack Obama’s nomination process and acceptance speech (on a 20-foot-by-30-foot screen, no less) just a stone’s throw from where the Declaration of Independence was drafted and signed some 232 years ago is obvious. But the silver-tongued senator is scheduled to deliver this highly anticipated address on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legendary “I Have a Dream” speech, which, depending on your perspective, guarantees either disappointment or epic opportunity. While it would be folly to believe any campaign speech is capable of going toe-to-toe with Dr. King’s soul-stirring sermon, if the self-appointed candidate for change can muster the same mix of magic and motivational wordplay that drove his rousing “Audacity of Hope” address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Obama’s speech here could be remembered for years to come. On a local note, let’s not forget George W. Bush’s eight-year reign was officially conceived within our city limits when he accepted the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2000 at the GOP’s convention here. In fact, in the wee hours of that convention’s opening day, a young freelance journalist was detained for smoking a cigarette in the shadow of Independence Hall, thus earning the dubious distinction of becoming the first official member of the famed RNC 420. Perhaps I’ll leave the smokes at home this time. (Joshua Valocchi)