’)Jim Webb is the senator from Virginia, and especially when compared to the past occupant and his racial terrorism, it’s a supreme improvement. That said, I was not personally as impressed with Sen. Webb’s performance in the Democratic Response as so many others seem to have been (The bar is so low for opposition party response speeches that someone not drooling is cause for celebration). And the talk about him being anything like a vice-presidential candidate is lunacy. Policy-wise I agree with a lot of what Jim Webb says and stands for, but from a performance point of view, Sen. Webb is… the senator from Virginia. Okay?
Yeah, some of our folks do have a tendency to get all worked up over a guy that gives one good speech.
Like that Obama fellow.
But understand, our bench has lacked depth when it comes to gumption. So when a new guy shows a little, some folks are going to go overboard with it.
Oliver, this post is pretty short on analysis. It is most assuredly premature to start making him into a VP candidate, but this was an extremely effective response to the SOTU. It was focused; it was personal; it was resolute.
It is fine to be unimpressed, but I should hope you would use this medium of yours for more amplification about what was lacking. Frankly I thought it was stellar.
Z, I agree with you. As a response to the President’s presentation in the SOTU, I think Webb hit the bullseye. I think the fact that what Webb said could not be dissected by the right wing echo chamber and used out of context to try and paint it as some wildly leftist, out of the mainstream response is an indication of its effectiveness. I think he expressed the feelings of a significant number of Americans, both Republican and Democrat.
I, too, would be very curious as to Oliver’s analysis on Webbs speech. Maybe he has an angle on it which I have not considered.
I liked Webb’s speech too, and loved that I helped vote him into office.
Maybe I am so hungry for change that I cling to the first port in a storm. But honestly, his remarks were so clear and direct that I cannot find fault.
Then again, I’m so smitten with the idea of 2 Black coaches in the SuperBowl that I have abandoned picking the best team (Chicago). I’m going to root for Tony Dungy because he “paid his dues”. That’s looking at the wrong aspect of the problem (the game). And that’s what we do so often in politics.
So let us hear your reasons for not being impressed.
I thought the delivery was pretty flat and perfunctory. I thought Webb looked very uncomfortable, much like he did when he was on the stump last year.
I understand where you’re coming from Oliver. And I guess as a speechmaker Webb would not be considered in the mold of a Bill Clinton. Whether or not you agreed with what Clinton said, he knew how to give a presentation. But at this point I think, more importantly than how polished he might be, would be the substance of thewords contained in his speech. Yes, he was nervous. He’s not had a lot of practice at something like this. But what he said and how he said it, in my opinion, more than overshadowed his inexperience or nervousness.
At this point I think the American people are more ready for substance than slick political presentations. He could have been “any American” sitting there telling us what he thought. That’s the feeling I got. He came across as more of a voice of the man on the street than someone who has lived the bulk of their years in the Washington bubble. I would much rather have had someone like Webb than the like of a Kerry or a Biden. There is just too much baggage with someone who would have been looked on as “just another Washington insider”.
So Webb still gets an attaboy from, nervousness and all.
hey, man, your first vblog was kinda flat and perfunctory too. Cut the guy some slack. The Demo response to the sotu is a big deal, especially for a freshman.
Someone somewhere characterised it as the STFU to the SOTU.
I’m an idiot blogger, he’s a U.S. Senator. Somehow I don’t think theres a ying and yang to our performances.
touche
“Oliver, this post is pretty short on analysis.”
*Chuckle* Do I really need to say it?
(Hint- read the Oliver’s last 50 posts. I don’t think Oliver spends a whole lot of time on analysis. That’s the readers’ job most of the time on this here blog.)
If you’re too dumb to get a simple point made in 2 words instead of 1,000 you’re reading the wrong blog.