buzz, ballots

Good evening-
The hills are alive with a completely insane political buzz. Here I was thinking that yesterday was exciting, and yet...
The MSNBC superstructure was certainly not vacant yesterday, but today it was MOBBED. Protesters a-gogo for every cause you can think of-- and about a hundred more that never crossed your liberal mind. For example: "Stop Bird Porn," "Bring Back Crystal Pepsi," "9/11 Was an Inside Job"... Yikes. I half expected "Cartographers for Social Equality" to pop out. The crowd was wild, basically.

And then there were those who simply could not be contented.
And while Obama's campaign people were not what I would call "clued in" with the whole WiFi mishap (bloggers at the same location today broke down and paid for service), his loyalists out in the city were busy at work, realizing his image in any form they could imagine. Merch for all:

(Yes, that shirt says "Ban A Republican," the onesie says "Barack A Bye Baby," and those are Barack Obama action figures.) I have to hand it to Obama fans--maybe they're impartial and just out to make a little money or maybe they're die-hard, but in either case, they are taking fresh attempts. In addition to the average baseball caps and tees, things like the action figure have popped up on countless street corners. And the taglines, while often cheesy, do not go unappreciated: "Barack the Casbah" and "Barack to the Future" are two of my favorites thus far.

However, on a more substantial note, I do feel the need to comment on Hillary's speech. Not so much on its content, really, but just on the way in which it was delivered: Over the past two days, the JSA has given us access to many very interesting speakers (including a personal favorite of mine, Jason Rae, youngest SuperDelegate). Through watching these speakers, I've been shocked at how much weight is placed not on whatyou say, but how you say it. This sounds fairly obvious, as everyone knows that humans respond greatly to emotion, yet it is worth restating. As a highschooler, I know that my demographic is generally pinned with, among other things, having a short attention span. It's true-- in this "soundbyte" age, longevity of focus isn't as prized as it once was. The internet is faster so we don't get bored with it. Commercials are shorter because our attention can only be held for so long. That said, so much about an audience's interest in a speaker is dictated not by our short attention spans, but by the speaker himself. Some are energetic, witty, self-deprecating...these are qualities we usually respond well to. Present even the most mundane topic with a clever turn of phrase and a shrug of your shoulders and I'm at least 70% more likely to take notice. Politics is one-half acting, in my opinion. There's nothing worse than a dry performance.

Truly, I think that the speeches presented on the floor of the DNC are the biggest plugs for America's Public Speaking classes we could hope for.

-e

P.S. Security is insane: saw literally ninety police at one point.