Posted on 08/27/2008 5:31:21 PM PDT by maccaca
1:50 pm MT: From ABC News' Rick Klein, author of The Note: So all the buzz today was supposed to be about two big Wednesday speeches -- Bill Clinton’s and Joe Biden.
Why, then, is everyone in Denver talking about stagecraft?
It’s simple: Reporters got their first glimpse of the stage where Barack Obama will deliver his speech tomorrow night at Invesco Field. Reuters described the set as similar to a "Greek temple."
Thus a legend -- not the good kind -- was born.
Said one Democrat: "This is a disaster of mythical proportions." Said another: "It's not enough that he wants to be president -- he wants to be Zeus." Said the first: "Will he send down thunderbolts from the mountain?"
Those are the Democrats -- though assuredly not Obama partisans. Cue the Republicans: The RNC blasted around an e-mail referring to the "Temple of Obama."
"Tomorrow you're going to see Obama come down from Olympus to be among us mere mortals," Michael Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, told reporters in Denver.
Senior Obama advisers dismiss the comparisons. There will be columns, they say, but it won’t look like a Greek temple -- or even the White House portico.
"It looks like any state capitol," one adviser tells ABC News. "It's a bunch of columns."
For the candidate who brought you his very own faux-presidential seal, this is not a good perception. Obama aides insist that the set is staying, and that it won't look as bad as it sounds right now; the real backdrop, they say, will be his supporters.
It raises anew the larger issue: After Berlin, and the "Celebrity" ads, does Obama want to accept the nomination in front of a screaming crowd of 75,000 people?
Obama folks, who see the evening as an organizing tool, say yes. There’s a real enthusiasm gap here that the Obama folks want to exploit
But I wonder: If this was being put together post-"Celebrity" -- had it not been in the works for months -- would the campaign have had such a problem with accepting the nomination inside the Pepsi Center -- just like people normally do?
Will there be Obama Youth? Will they carry those banners with eagles on top?
At least with this debacle people won’t be analyzing Bill’s speech for very long.
The gift that keeps on giving...
I predict the man-child wanta-be will creep people out with this bit of stagecraft.
A junior senator who has accomplished nothing wants to be the king of the world. This approach to his acceptance speech is like a pimp who doesn’t have a pot to piss in but drives a Cadillac. Barack Obama is the “Velvet Jones” of presidential politics.
This is too easy.
I once attended a seminar on Fascist architecture, and Obama’s temple would have fit seemlessly into the slide show I saw. Couple that with the fact that the stadium will be packed with 70,000 Obamaites whipped into an adoring frenzy and chanting “Obama, Obama” throughout the fearless leader’s oration and you get an event that is creepy beyond words. If only Leni Reifenstahl were around to film it.
I could not say it better myself....
McCain’s people are going to have tons of fun putting ads together poking fun of this. This guy is a real goof.
The Obama Youths will be in the parking lot with battery saws collecting catalytic converters.
I recall a scene from, “I, Claudius” in which Claudius has to pretend that Caligula (played by John Hurt) was a god. Will Crissy Matthews pretend he’s blinded by looking at BO?
More dramatic than tingles up the leg.
Tomorrow is the anniversary of Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream speech.
Obama prides himself on symbolism.
He is going to attempt to portray himself as the answer to Dr King's dream.
Obama will anoint himself Caesar.
But I’m not so sure its a Greek temple.
It looks more like the mythical city of Atlantis to me.
He has NO CLASS. Ghetto style fits him better!
Could this Greek temple become his temple of doom? This could really be the beginning of the end for Obama if he becomes a goofy caricature.
Love it! Love Michael Steele. This just feeds right into the Paris Hilton, Britney Spears ad. So grandiose. Too bad we got a hold of this early. I hope they don't tone down the grandiosity that was and is clearly planned for the god Obama. Let the American people decide.
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