Who Will Give The Keynote Address?
by blueflorida, Sat Jul 26, 2008 at 09:12:58 AM EDT
Typically, one of the biggest attention-getters of the Democratic National Convention is the keynote address. Recently, a tradition has emerged where the keynote speech opportunity is given (although, not always) to one of the Party's rising stars -- a relatively young politician who has generated buzz within party circles but has not yet been introduced to a national audience. Recent keynoters (* denotes "rising star"-types):
- 2004 -- Illinois State Senator Barack Obama*
- 2000 -- Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, Jr*
- 1996 -- Indiana Governor Evan Bayh*
- 1992 -- Former Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan
- 1988 -- Texas State Treasurer Ann Richards*
- 1984 -- New York Governor Mario Cuomo*
- 1980 -- Arizona Congressman Mo Udall
- 1976 -- Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan*
- 1972 -- Florida Governor Ruebin Askew*
- 1968 -- Hawaii Senator Dan Inouye*
Looking toward this year's convention, the question begs: which politicians, who could continue the "rising star" tradition among Convention keynoters, could possibly be selected? Let us venture some names. We'll set as criteria (a)must not already have a reputation as a poor speaker; (b)preference given to those who endorsed Obama early (meaning before March 2008).
- MA GOV Deval Patrick -- outstanding orator who was with Obama from the beginning of his campaign
- VA GOV Tim Kaine -- if Kaine isn't selected as VP, this would be a decent consolation prize; Kaine is a solid-to-good speaker who endorsed Obama very early
- MT GOV Brian Schweitzer -- a quite powerful and entertaining speaker who endorsed Obama late but noticeably avoided endorsing Obama's primary opponents
- IA GOV Chet Culver -- endorsed Obama after the Iowa Caucuses, but didn't endorse Obama's opponents either. Has got a strong, union-hall speaking style.
- MO SEN Claire McCaskill -- endorsed Obama before her primary and vigorously campaigned for him; is a moderately engaging speaker, and being a heartland Senator could send a helpful political message
- AL REP Artur Davis -- endorsed early; knew Obama at Harvard Law; widely recognized as a rising star and may be running for GOV of Alabama in 2010.
- DC Mayor Adrian Fenty -- endorsed early; campaigned a lot for Obama; has been an impressive reformer in his service as Mayor of Washington; unknown as a speaker; only in his late 30s, age-wise.
Tags: 2008, Convention, DNC, keynote, obama (all tags)
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