'A Change is Gonna Come'

American Idol finalist Syesha Mercado had just finished singing Sam Cooke's 1964 classic "A Change is Gonna Come" when Obama strode onto the stage in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Syesha wept, as she reminded Randy, Paula and Simon of the civil rights movement which fueled Cooke's song, life and power.

Obama spoke of the change that was coming --the attacks, the rightwing playbook, and he worked to inoculate himself with power, passion, and words that soared.

Obama, tonight, gave a definitional speech. Some considered it a convention acceptance speech.

It was a redefinition of the American Dream.

A Change is Gonna Come.

Let me tell you who I am, Obama told us, reintroducing himself after a rough and rocky week. Let me tell you what makes me tick.

He spoke of his love for America, challenging those who would define patriotism through lapel pins.

Obama spoke of the movements and government which gave his grandfather the opportunity to go to college on the GI bill when he came home from war; which gave his mother,who was on food stamps, the opportunity to send him to the best schools; which gave his father-in-law, a shift worker with MS, the opportunity to send his daughter and son to one of the best colleges in the nation.

Obama spoke of dignity and work and the America he loves. He spoke of the America that isn't about game playing or slicing and dicing and name calling or spin and division and distraction; he spoke of an America defined by change from people, from below--and a Washington and Wall Street out of touch with core values.

"Let's end the slicing and dicing into brown, black, old, young, rich, poor," Obama said.

A Change is Gonna Come.

Obama spoke of trusting the American people to realize we need a government which stands up for families tricked out of their homes . He spoke of compassion and security as American values, not liberal or conservative values.

"Michelle and I have lived the promise of America," Obama told the North Carolina crowd, the country --and the superdelegates. "We have lived the founding ideals of the flag draped over my father's coffin...and I have learned the simple truth which I learned in shadows of shuttered factories in south side of Chicago.."

We can bring about the change we seek.

Yes, we can.

Okay, I worry that Obama closed with words better suited to the pulpit --than the pavements he needs to hit hard as he works to drive home a tougher economic message ...one that will combine truthtelling and populism... as he heads back onto the road to the change that is gonna come and the fights ahead.

But tonight Barack Obama spoke of a new definition of the American dream, of patriotism and of a country that is at a defining moment, a country and a people which deserve better than the distraction and divisiveness of a rightwing mass media determined to peddle manufactured scandals and trivialize and divide --and a Clinton campaign which has pushed a kind of rightwing populism which risks sundering the Democratic coalition needed to win this November against John McCain (who may be loved by the mass corporate media but is neither reformer nor moderate.)

As CNN's and MSNBC's commentators punditocrasize about moving ahead and the DNC's Rules committee meeting this May 31st and seating Michigan and Florida's delegates, I thought of that worn but good Clinton saying: People who work hard and play by the rules can get ahead.

But as Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson reminded us a couple weeks ago, the Clinton campaign has moved the goalposts so often --when it comes to what matters on these pendulum-like primary nights -- they're not even in the stadium anymore. They're somewhere out in the parking lot.

A change is gonna come.

UPDATE: Video of Obama's speech below...

Comments (38)

1. oh divine KVH, was it not glorious?

   YEEEEHAWWW!

   Posted by ibbleblibble at 05/06/2008 @ 9:56pm

2. ¿american idol?

   Tuesday, May 6, 2008 10:07:45 PM

   Posted by frosty zoom at 05/06/2008 @ 10:02pm

3. the real deal:

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXMjhdx3YO8&fmt=18&fmt=18

   <i>There been times that I thought I wouldn't last for long Now think I'm able to carry on It's been a long, along time coming but I know A change gon' come, oh yes it will</i>

   damnit, ms. vannoodle.

   now i'm all emotional.

   let's have another listen...........

   Tuesday, May 6, 2008 10:16:20 PM

   Posted by frosty zoom at 05/06/2008 @ 10:11pm

4. methinks she smells a sweet victory...

   Posted by ibbleblibble at 05/06/2008 @ 10:12pm

5. wow,

   now i'm gonna be listenin' to sam cooke all night long.

   <i>"oye güera, vamos a bailar........"

   Posted by frosty zoom at 05/06/2008 @ 10:17pm

6. Posted by frosty zoom at 05/6/2008 |

   She loves that show....but atleast it's not "The Bachelor".

   Posted by Mask at 05/06/2008 @ 10:21pm

7. Posted by libzsuck at 05/6/2008 |

   quackity quack quack!

   Posted by ibbleblibble at 05/06/2008 @ 10:22pm

8. she's beginning to look like a bad joke now.

   fine - she fought...and fought...but now there's an image problem...

   and but for a hard core of clintonistas buffered by operation chaos types...her boat is sinking in the sea of public opinion...

   Posted by ibbleblibble at 05/06/2008 @ 10:30pm

9. She loves that show....but atleast it's not "The Bachelor".

   Posted by Mask at 05/6/2008

   the worst was "big brother"...holy shit! serious point for MORE late term abortions...

   Posted by ibbleblibble at 05/06/2008 @ 10:47pm

10. eureka!

    mask is simon cowell......

    lol......

    Posted by frosty zoom at 05/06/2008 @ 10:48pm

11. Posted by frosty zoom at 05/6/2008 |

    Dreadful, simply dreadful. By far the WORST post I've ever seen. And I don't want to sound mean, but honestly...I'm sorry, it's a "no".

    Randy?

    Posted by Mask at 05/06/2008 @ 11:14pm

12. Randy?

    Posted by Mask

    usually.

    ('cept when i visit the nation, of course.)

    Tuesday, May 6, 2008 11:32:20 PM

    Posted by frosty zoom at 05/06/2008 @ 11:27pm

13. frosty and ibble, you boys say you're for obama, right? well the sexist comments help him as much as helendao and her new blog friend minnie help hillary. perhaps you could learn how to be real men from his example. no, it's obviously too late for that for both of you. just save the sexist hillary bashing til after the general election. he is in no danger of losing my vote. but there could be women reading this who are sick and tired of sexist pigs. you two may push them toward hillary's camp.

    Posted by loveloki at 05/06/2008 @ 11:29pm

14. hillary is female and that's great.

    but she lies.

    she does worse than lie. she slanders.

    she in so many ways resembles the horrible female archetypes to which we allude.

    it doesn't seem appropriate to compare her to cyclops or iago.

    i don't care about the gender of my "leaders" (or my coworkers, or blogmateys, or friends).

    i care about their honesty and effectiveness at helping people.

    i'm sorry if i've offended you.

    Tuesday, May 6, 2008 11:45:42 PM

    Posted by frosty zoom at 05/06/2008 @ 11:41pm

15. frosty, my post on this thread was meant for the"split results" thread. sorry about that.

    as i have said before, there are plenty of legitimate criticisms to level at hillary. you are not alluding to archetypes when you engage in sexist woman hating behavior. you would not be alluding to archetypes if you said black people are dirty and stupid. you would be alluding to false stereotypes created by white males as tools of oppression. you allude to nothing more than sexist stereotypes with the "witch is dead"...."the witch is pissing on herself...."

    spare me the archetypes bs, please. and you're not sorry if you offended me. so please quit lieing about that.

    last week, or the week before, you tried to justify everyone referring to her voice as screechy and shrill with the vid of her singing the national anthem. yeah, she sucked. but there was nothing in it to justify shrill and screechy. her voice was dull. she came off rather like a geek. obviously you and ibble are dyed in the wool woman haters. i feel sorry for your wife and his daughters. just remember, you're not helping barack with your ugliness. ibble and frosty--the helen and minnie of obama's crowd.

    Posted by loveloki at 05/07/2008 @ 12:59am

16. loveloki

    that's nuts.

    sure, i was crass. but i've been crass about other ruthless politicians, too.

    gender has nothing to do with it.

    nothing.

    the pissing comment was in poor taste. very true. i can't hit unsubmit, however. so i live and learn from my mistakes.

    if i could, i would apologize to ms. clinton for that remark.

    then i would ask her why she's a warmongering liar pandering to uneducated people.

    and yes, i find her voice supremely irritating. bush, too. and bill clinton, too. and romney. rrrrrrr. the list goes on.

    and yes, i sincerely apologized to you.

    btw i only hope obama succeeds because he is the least worst.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 05/07/2008 @ 02:12am

17. speaking of changes:

    <i>Waiting for the Game to Change

    GALLERY

    Democrats Split Indiana and North Carolina Sen. Barack Obama won North Carolina's presidential primary by a wide margin Tuesday, while Sen. Hillary Clinton narrowly won in Indiana. » LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

    TOOLBOX Resize Text Save/Share + Print This E-mail This COMMENT washingtonpost.com readers have posted 6 comments about this item. View All Comments » POST A COMMENT You must be logged in to leave a comment. Log in | Register Why Do I Have to Log In Again?

    Discussion Policy WHO'S BLOGGING » Links to this article The media joined in. "So, will Obama close the deal on Tuesday?" CNN's Anderson Cooper wanted to know.

    THIS STORY Obama Is Decisive Winner in N.C.; Clinton Ekes Out Victory in Indiana After One of Campaign's Roughest Patches, Obama Tried to Change the Narrative Waiting for the Game to Change View All Items in This Story "Can Obama close the deal and win both of these things and knock her out?" demanded MSNBC's Chris Matthews.

    NBC's Meredith Vieira took the question to Obama. People "are beginning to question, 'Jeez, why doesn't he close the deal?' " she informed him.

    As Obama struggled to close the deal, Clinton served up another cliche. "This primary election on Tuesday is a game-changer," she said last week.

    The media grabbed the ball and ran with it. NBC's Norah O'Donnell agreed that "tomorrow's outcome could be huge for Hillary Clinton, a game-changer."

    But CNN won the game-changing world series.

    "Tomorrow is not a game-changer," Anderson Cooper determined.

    "It can be a game-changer," argued his guest, Time's Joe Klein. Gloria Borger concurred that "if she does win both, to use her phrase, it is a game-changer."

    Cooper was puzzled. "If Obama wins both," he asked, "is that a game-changer, too?"

    Cooper was puzzled. "So, Joe, tomorrow, are we likely to actually see any game-changers?"

    "God, who knows?" Klein replied.

    It fell to the "Today" show's Vieira, again, to ask the candidate. "Will it still be a game-changer to you?" she asked.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 05/07/2008 @ 02:26am

18. it's just that she has no sense of decency.....

    you're right, though.

    two wrongs ain't gonna make a right.

    Wednesday, May 7, 2008 2:37:01 AM

    Posted by frosty zoom at 05/07/2008 @ 02:32am

19. I never respond to an article that I read on line, but I found this one intriguing. According to the content of this article, Senator Obama states that he and his wife have "lived the founding ideals of the flag draped over my father's coffin". I found that statement to be rather odd and a bit of a stretch, especially if he expected his audience to take the statement literally, which I suspect he did. Isn't a flag draped over a coffin a right reserved for those who served our country in the military and are American citizens? I don't believe his father was either, though obviously his maternal grandfather would fit the bill. Further his definition of a new American dream is not new at all. It is repetitive of what I've heard for the last 40 years, simply couched in slightly different language. He is a wonderful orator when he doesn't have to speak off the cuff, but his words shouldn't be confused for action, nor should they be thought of as particularly original. If you have read extensively, which most Americans have not, you will find his themes, phrases and ideas sprinkled throughout the ages. I have been a part of small town public life for over thirty-five years and it takes hard work, stick-to-itness and grit to achieve the goals that make your community a better place to live. There is no quick fix. He speaks loftily of his goals, which he should, but I have no sense that he has been a moving force in initiating the achievement of them since taking a seat in the US Senate. He has had a chance to be a force of change there, but hasn't seemed to have met the challenge and if not there, where? Perhaps the Senate was never the place he wanted to be given his rather, it seems, lackluster record there and the fact that he was ready, before a third of his very first term was up to move on to what he envisioned as a more powerful office. I'm sure that Senator Obama will be the nominee of the Democratic party, but I wonder if he can be any more than that.

    Posted by YahYah at 05/07/2008 @ 02:37am

20. <i>Los analistas atribuyen gran parte del alza del crudo a la debilidad del dólar.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 05/07/2008 @ 02:46am

21. YahYah: Obama actually misspoke. Obama correctly referred to his grandfather: in his prepared remarks, which you can read in full here: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/05/06/prepared_remarks_o f_senator_barack_obama/ or here: http://tinyurl.com/5kr6f7

    "This is the country that gave my grandfather a chance to go to college on the GI Bill when he came home from World War II....

    "I know the promise of America because I have lived it.

    "It is the light of opportunity that led my father across an ocean.

    "It is the founding ideals that the flag draped over my grandfather's coffin stands for -- it is life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

    Posted by tristram at 05/07/2008 @ 02:54am

22. Congratulations, Katrina. You hit rock bottom.

    Posted by chinpoko at 05/07/2008 @ 03:11am

23. Great post, KVH!

    You are right on the money, and the examples from the speech that show Obama and Michele's working class roots is something that will be featured in the upcoming contests.

    Posted by Metteyya at 05/07/2008 @ 10:33am

24. Posted by libzsuck at 05/6/2008

    So you believe that Obama will be the most racist president in American history. Really? Not, Andrew Johnson or Andrew Jackson? Of how about Nixon with his "law and order" bullshit. Your statement has to be the dumbest I've heard so far. I'm not saying your dumb but if you keep posting irrational crap like you did, I'm gonna have believe otherwise.

    Posted by k330k at 05/07/2008 @ 11:16am

25. Posted by frosty zoom at 05/7/2008 | ignore this person

    Excellent point Frosty. But why in spanish?

    Posted by Lillian at 05/07/2008 @ 11:28am

26. Posted by k330k at 05/7/2008 | ignore this person

    k330k, have you ever seen a troop of chimpanzees? There's always the alphas in the group...strong, virile, intelligent...they are the leaders. At the polar opposite of the troop, you'll often find a weak, unintelligent, impotent male, lurking on the fringes because he's usually ostracized by the rest of the group. Invariably, he's the one you'll find defecating in his hand, throwing it towards the rest of the troop, then beating his feces-stained paws against his pathetic, sunken chest in a vain effort to get attention, before he runs back off into the underbrush to hide.

    That pretty much describes libzsuck and virtually everything he's ever posted here.

    He's a perfect example of why there is an 'ignore this person' button.

    Posted by Lillian at 05/07/2008 @ 11:50am

27. Posted by Lillian at 05/7/2008

    As my friends and I say, when we hear truth, " you ain't never lied!"

    Posted by k330k at 05/07/2008 @ 12:35pm

28. Excellent point Frosty. But why in spanish?

    Posted by Lillian

    sorry, it was late. i was reading the houston chronicle in spanish.

    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/spanish/5759250.html

    i was too lazy to translate or find it in english.

    "analysts attribute much of the recent rise in oil prices on the weakness of the u.s. dollar."

    gas tax. what a joke.

    wanna lower gas prices? strengthen the dollar.

    Wednesday, May 7, 2008 1:41:46 PM

    Posted by frosty zoom at 05/07/2008 @ 1:37pm

29. Posted by frosty zoom at 05/7/2008

    Exactamente! ( Is that right?)

    Posted by k330k at 05/07/2008 @ 5:24pm

30. Does this mean that that when Obama is elected we won't have to listen to the genderists gender at us anymore. No more first-woman this, first-woman that? No more of Kate Pollit, and Church and religion hating? Jeez, if Obama were to accomplish all of that, as his first presidential act he'd have to see to the free distribution of purgatives to 90% of his voters.

    Posted by john lowell at 05/07/2008 @ 6:18pm

31. i watched the speech and it was beautiful as usual. i don't understand why the north carolina folk didn't cheer more. when he spoke here, we drown him out with applause seventy times in an hour. everyone jumped to their feet repeatedly. and that wasn't even a victory speech.

    every speech he gives is great. he is going to be the best president we've ever had.

    Posted by loveloki at 05/07/2008 @ 7:48pm

32. B.O. did not win Indiana, the tie-breaker as he stated a couple of weeks ago after his big loss in PA. He is without question, a speaker who knows where you're emotions and hopes live, and he plays that well. What he hasn't done is make a change. He put forth a bill to require the nuclear power stations to have better safety policys, but by the time the nuclear lobbyists got done with him, it was like inconsequential. Contributions from the nuclear energy pac might have something to do with that failure. Big difference between speech making and getting 'er done.

    Posted by Bolted at 05/07/2008 @ 8:44pm

33. Thanks for the Cooke link, Frosty Zoom. Made my day!

    Posted by opeluboy at 05/07/2008 @ 8:56pm

34. ( Is that right?)

    Posted by k330k

    sí.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 05/07/2008 @ 9:45pm

35. he is going to be the best president we've ever had.

    Posted by loveloki

    whoa, nelly!

    optimism is a good thing, but.........

    Wednesday, May 7, 2008 9:52:09 PM

    Posted by frosty zoom at 05/07/2008 @ 9:47pm

36. Smelling some H T's O T D. But Mask is the one with the real nose for this.

    Posted by winyahn at 05/08/2008 @ 05:05am

37. Obama continues to "sweet talk" America. Nothing concrete in his policy, but rather it's all about him. If you are listening carefully and following the campaign, he is still "soft and undefined on the issues. He just keeps up the "happy talk." Well, we do need a change, a very definitive change, not a lot of words which sound like change. Are we ready to take a chance on someone who cannot speak to blue collar workers? to rural populations? to those who are just waiting for him to say exactly what he proposes to do about the economy? or the war? or gas prices? or big government? We must choose a candidate that is best suited to take on the hard questions, the hard liners in Congress; the Republican attack machine. We missed in 2000 and 2004, are we going to get it wrong again in 2008, by allowing someone we just "adore" in the White House, or really nominate the hard core candidate who will stand up to Washington, and stand up for the American people. Think about it, before we make yet another crucial error.

    Posted by books at 05/08/2008 @ 08:29am

38. Obama will win, yes, but his secret weapon all along has been Hillary. She has lost. I suspect that McCain will become his secret weapon in the general election. Then what? The country must still prove it can recover from the damage done by those soon to leave Washington ... perhaps to a cell ... and their enablers.

    Posted by mirth at 05/09/2008 @ 08:39am