The Art of Speechifying

I've been watching the Dem Convention for the art of the political speech. Each night has seen some pieces of work. Monday night, we saw Bill Clinton, a true master, in his element. It was breathtaking. Tuesday night we saw a star born: Barack Obama. His was the truly first 21st century political speech this country has witnessed and from the buzz, it electrified the nation, no matter the political affiliation. Last night I could not believe how good Al Sharpton was. He was the Reverend Sharpton last night and the convention was his congregation.

Chris Lott has been commenting some on politcal blogging and he mentioned Saletan at Slate, who've I've read in the past, but wasn't reading currently. It is indeed some good blogging going on there. This is what he had to say about Sharpton:

I swore I'd never forgive Sharpton for his defamation, but like everybody else, I find it hard to let it obscure his virtues. Sure enough, he ends his address with the most beautiful metaphor of the convention. He recalls hearing Ray Charles sing "America the Beautiful." Charles had never seen purple mountains or fruited plains, Sharpton observes. The blind man was singing not about what he knew but about what he believed. That's what blacks see in this country, Sharpton explains to the absent Bush: Not that slave-owning America was born beautiful, but that "we would make America beautiful."

I'll say it again, he's a scoundrel. But if there's a better speaker in American politics right now, I'd like to meet him.