Legal Commentary

The Speech: RFK or Adlai Stevenson?

By Professor University of Miami School of Law

As is so often the case Glenn Greenwald says it right when he describes this speech as a test of “Obama’s faith in the reasoning abilities of the American public”.

I’ll only add this: whether this is Obama’s breakthrough moment, as it deserves to be, or his Adlai Stevenson moment depends on two things: first, whether the gatekeepers of old media, few if any of whom are friendly to Democrats, allow his rich and complex statements anywhere near a voter. I’m pretty dubious about that. The first news report I read was from AP. By Notorious Nedra Pickler. And it missed all the points, by some combination of malice, haste, and stupidity. On the other hand, the considered reactions of both the Washington Post and the New York Times are fair while not fawning. But it is still TV, broadcast and cable, and radio that reaches the largest audience. And on radio, one still can expect only the very worst.

The second chance comes from the Internet, which allows the candidate to bypass the filter. But will anyone outside the choir come to hear the preacher?

Full post as published by Discourse.net on March 18, 2008 (boomark / email).