What Stood Out This Week - 6/1-6/7

The election is over! Let the election begin! Let's see What Stood Out This Week...

The Democrats
Obviously, What Stood Out This Week is that Barack Obama is now the Democratic Party's nominee for president.

Yes, there were a few remaining contests, once again split by Obama and Hillary, and there was the initial "I'm making no decisions tonight" speech by Hillary, even after Obama had officially clinched the nomination. Then, there was that secret meeting at Dianne Feinstein's house (which totally sounds like something I did in grade school), and by Saturday, Hillary had come around. Now if we can only convince all of her supporters.

I've always like Hillary a lot more than the people she was surrounded by. Mark Penn, Terry McAuliffe, Harold Ickes, and James Carville are not my favorite Democrats. But her concession speech was as good as it should've been. At times maybe it seemed all about her, but when it comes right down to it, I do believe she wants what's best for the Party, and her speech on Saturday was a good beginning.

VP choice? Don't think it'll happen. And I don't think it'll change that much about how she functions. I think she'll campaign and stump for Obama either way. Considering how much I disliked how her campaign team operated during the primary, I have a lot of faith in Hillary's desire to do what's best.

The best part is that now Barack Obama can focus solely on John McCain.

The Republican
Hey, remember John McCain? He chose to give a "major speech" on Tuesday, the day that the Democratic contest was finally decided.

On a day of three speeches, McCain went first. It was widely agreed that it was terrible, from the green background to the stilted phrasing and nervous laughter. I caught about five minutes of it in total, and I don't mind telling you, the shit was creepy. And not just because I'm predisposed to disagree with the fella. It was creepy.

Hillary was next on the docket, and even though she didn't concede the election, it was a pretty damned good speech. Granted, after McCain, the Hunchback of Notre Dame would've seemed to give a good speech. But Hillary's speech was as good as any I've seen her give. She seemed relaxed and natural, and even if I was like, "Concede already, please," I was impressed.

But obviously, Obama can really bring major league game when it comes to speechifying. And he did. He claimed his victory, and no doubt about it: the man looked downright presidential.

Oh, but that's not the Republican...

McCain's challenged Obama to a series of town hall meetings, and you know what? I'm all for it. Yes, McCain will look good in this atmosphere, but so will Obama. And I for one welcome the chance (and change) to hear two men express how they view various issues differently from one another. Plus, it's not like McCain will be able to avoid giving speeches off of teleprompters the entire campaign.

So that's What Stood Out This Week. Let the election begin!