So people have asked me to say something on Obama.  Got something longer coming later, but this must be said.
His speech on race today was one of the boldest and audacious things I’ve ever heard.  And while bold and audacious, it was strategically flawless, an exhibit in rhetorical technique.  He spoke to everyone firmly, never backed down on anything, but established common ground with just about everyone.  It was breathtaking.
And it showed something my father mentioned today–Obama has the most sophisticated understanding of race that any political candidate has ever displayed, and he does so in a way that’s easily digestible.
This was the best speech I’ve ever heard live.
But you know what?  He was saying things I agreed with.  I was moved to see that someone is finally treating race as the significant thing it is, something to small to be flipped as a card and too big to be ignored.  It must be discussed bluntly, and it must be discussed with no pretenses.  The discussion requires honesty and backbone, the gumption to be right but the security to admit you’re wrong.  Obama’s speech showed me those things.
The question, of course, is who else cares.  Preaching to the choir when talking to me.  I wonder what was heard by the people that cringe at any mention of race.
If I’ve learned anything working in the media, it’s as follows–and this is something Mike Freeman told me the other day–when discussing race, people hear what they want to hear, not what you say.
I just hope some people wanted to hear something real.