Click to play videoThe first black candidate for American presidency gives an acceptance speech that has been described as epic yet accessible, soaring yet a real and transformational speech.
"Change happens because the American people demand it—because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time. America, this is one of those moments," he told supporters at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on Friday. "I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming."
CNN reports the line of people seeking to get into Invesco Field to hear Obama's speech stretched for six miles, and the crowd that filled the stadium was more than 80,000 strong.
Millions across the world watched Obama’s speech, transfixed by the young leader’s charisma and promise of hope and change. Is Barack Obama the ideal 21st century political leader?
CNN-IBN’s Sagarika Ghose asked on Face The Nation to Jyoti Thottam, South Asia bureau chief of Time magazine and Siddharth Varadarajan, senior editor at The Hindu newspaper.
Obama, in his speech, was trying to establish that the campaign till November would be about the economy. “That (economy) is the main thing on the American voters’ mind. He was speaking directly about that. He was using his own biography, his parents’ and his grandparents’ to connect with middle class voters and tell them that I understand what is bothering you,” said Thottam.
Is Obama, a man with Indonesian and Muslim ancestry, a man of working class America? “Obama is definitely more connected to working class America than Senator John McCain (the Republican Presidential candidate) is. Obama had an effective tool to strike when he said McCain ‘doesn't get it’. It meant McCain is not insensitive but he lived a life so aloof that he didn’t know how ordinary Americans lived,” said Varadarajan.
Martin Luther King Junior, in his ‘I have a dream’ speech 45 years ago, spoke about America not fulfilling its promise of equality—a speech that was the motivation for the Civil Rights Movement in America. “Obama in his speech was bringing back that idea of change and opportunity,” said Thottam.
Indian fears
Indians regard Democrats as not that friendly. The party is regarded stricter on nuclear non-proliferation and human rights. Obama in his speech promised to end tax breaks for companies which outsource business to foreign countries. Should India worry?
“I don’t think Indian apprehensions are justified. Indians tend to confuse the evolution of American policies over a trend cycle with the coming and going of a Republican or Democrat. I found the outsourcing part of Obama’s speech bit dishonest. Every Democrat at the hustings will rave and rant about outsourcing but I don’t think outsourcing policies are going to change,” said Varadarajan.
“On the nuclear deal once the Nuclear Suppliers group takes the American end of the bargain, which is passage of the 123 Agreement, is self-enforcing. For an American President—Democrat or Republican—to block the deal would mean losing out in a market they helped to create.”
Does Obama’s ancestry matter to voters? “That won’t be an obstacle, because what he has done is pushing the idea that this election is about the future. He has huge support among the young people. Obama is generation younger than McCain. The idea that he is foreign, exotic or unusual doesn’t exist among is marginal,” said Thottam.
SMS poll on: Is Barack Obama the ideal 21st century political leader?
Yes: 62 per cent
No: 38 per cent
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