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Authors, sign in!I got the chance to hear Dan Rather speak on Wednesday of the Democratic Convention. “Journalists should be skeptical, not cynical," said Rather.
Those words were ringing in my head most of Thursday evening at Invesco Field. I had retained a pretty good dose of skepticism, if not cynicism. The careful harmonization of speeches, music, cheering and flag waving of the previous three nights had left me wondering if any of this convention was real.
Sitting in the stands with a clan of media, the skepticism was palpable throughout the evening. Crowds would begin “the wave” .... and it would somehow flatten as it hit the media section, only to surge again once more as it hit the next section.
Then Obama took the stage, and I felt the air charged with something I’d never experienced before. Waving flags by the tens of thousands and deafening cheers made me nearly stop breathing at one point. There was no way that my camera could catch the effect. No way that a videotape could show what was happening.
I think that America was catching a dream. It seemed to hit in an instant....but maybe that was just me. Others may have caught that dream months ago.
Obama’s words were pointed, intelligent, discerning and mobilizing all at once. I had previously assumed I would see history being made that night, but I had just a small notion of what that would mean.
Leaving the stadium, the faces of the crowd were illuminated. How can one see “hope?” It’s a nebulous concept. Yet....there it was.....hope-stained faces everywhere I looked.
I agree with Kansas delegate, Len Schamber, who told me, “I believe we’re on the threshold of a historic time.” I can’t even begin to be skeptical of that.
Published August 31, 2008 by Dawne Leiker |
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Barack Obama
Democratic National Convention
Media
