Democrat Convention Obama’s Image To Be All-American

For Convention, Obama’s Image Is All-American
New York Times ….for complete article
One of the first images prime-time viewers will see of the Democratic National Convention next week is that of Michelle Obama, who will begin the four-day introduction of her husband, and her family, on her terms.
Through four nights there will be testimonials from family members like Mr. Obama’s wife and sister who will tell his “very American story,” in the words of one adviser, and from party luminaries like Senator Edward M. Kennedy (by videotape) and former President Bill Clinton (live) who will give Mr. Obama, the presumptive presidential nominee, the imprimatur of the party establishment.
At the convention beginning next Monday in Denver, there will be appearances by lesser known “Americans from all walks of life, from across the country” speaking about their support for Mr. Obama. Combined with a film featuring the candidate in all-American scenes by Davis Guggenheim — the director of “An Inconvenient Truth” whose father produced a similar biographical film for Robert F. Kennedy — aides to Mr. Obama are using the convention to tackle what members of both parties see as his greatest vulnerability with undecided voters: his “otherness.”
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Campaign aides and outside advisers, however, have grappled with how far convention speakers, including the candidate himself, should go in explicitly addressing race and the historic nature of his candidacy, particularly as Mr. Obama accepts the nomination on the 45th anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech.

“There are two overriding strategic imperatives for the convention: One is to make people comfortable with Barack Obama,” said Mark Mellman, a Democratic pollster who served as a top strategist for Senator John Kerry’s presidential race in 2004. “The other is to define the race clearly and define Barack Obama as change and McCain as a continuation of Bush’s policies at home and abroad.”

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None of this is to leave out Mr. Obama’s solid base of enthusiastic supporters. Advisers to Mr. Obama said the gathering was built around specific tasks aimed at capitalizing on their excitement.
For instance, when people arrive at the stadium in the hours leading up to Mr. Obama’s acceptance speech, they will be urged to call or send text messages to their friends and neighbors back home, sharing pro-Obama messages or asking them to watch the speech. The idea is to turn the football stadium into a giant phone bank.

“We always look for opportunities to put our people to work and not just have them sit idle and listen to speeches,” said Steve Hildebrand, the deputy campaign manager.

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The Democratic Convention Lineup
Monday, Aug. 25
HEADLINE SPEAKER Michelle Obama, wife of the presumptive nominee, Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois
OTHER SPEAKERS Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, speaker of the House and permanent chairwoman of the convention; Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri; and Craig Robinson, Michelle Obama’s brother
Tuesday, Aug. 26
HEADLINE SPEAKER Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York
OTHER SPEAKERS Former Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia will deliver the keynote address.
Wednesday, Aug. 27
The vice-presidential acceptance speech
OTHER SPEAKERS Former President Bill Clinton; Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico; Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana; Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware; Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia; Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader; Senator Ken Salazar, the convention’s home state senator; Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the House majority whip; Representative Patrick J. Murphy of Pennsylvania; Tammy Duckworth, the director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and an Iraq war veteran
Thursday, Aug. 28
Mr. Obama’s acceptance speech

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Wild Thing’s comment…………..
If there is anything Hussein isn’t, it’s “All-American”. Now that Obama has made it to the convention, will Michelle be proud of America for the 2nd time in her life?