In July 2004, I was watching television in a hotel room in Chicago, Illinois, eating a slab of cheesecake from the world-famous Cheesecake Factory. It’s a memorable moment because the cheesecake was so good. But also because a little-known Senate candidate, Barack Obama, was knocking socks off at the Democratic National Convention.
We had been in Boston days prior to see the DNC being set up, but unfortunately had to leave before it really kicked off. Who would have known that this electrifying speech would have catapulted him from political outsider to leader of the free world within a few short years. (His rise was possibly helped by the spectacular meltdown of vice-Presidential nominee John Edwards within a few short months).
But what happened to that ingenue, the purported saviour of America, whose smooth words and compelling presence were supposed to lift the beleaguered nation out of a critical slump?
Public opinion has certainly turned against President Obama, but I think the greatest indication of his being out-of-touch with public sentiment was his speech this week in Arizona, at the memorial for shooting victims including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and Judge John Roll.
It was meant to be a memorial. It was meant to be sad and heartfelt. Instead, it felt like an awkward debating society speech. Obama was interrupted for applause 54 times. 54 times?! They were squealing like it was a commencement speech. What were people applauding? A society that has allowed itself to turn on those it elects? (And those who don’t count applause breaks should get out of politics.)
It was heralded by some as a unifying speech, but for me, it fell flat. America is in crisis, in the grip of economic recession, and a wave of violence. It needs a strong leader who can find solutions to these problems, rather than relying on words alone to appease an increasingly frustrated public.
As unlikely as it will be with his dwindling support in the south, Obama should take strong and decisive action on gun control, like the Howard Government did in Australia after the Port Arthur massacre. From the tragedy, there should be a hope that we’ll not be watching the same old memorial speech delivered at a new mass shooting in a few months or years.
