Big setting confirmed for Barack Obama's big speech
It's official -- Barack Obama is taking it outdoors on Aug. 28 to formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination that will be bestowed on him the previous night.
As The Times' Doyle McManus anticipated in this item last week and as The Swamp writes about here, Democratic Party officials announced today that Obama will deliver his speech at Denver's Invesco Field at Mile High, presumably packing the stadium's 76,000-plus seats and praying that the thunderclouds that often roll across the Rockies in the summer won't rain on his spiel.
So much for the traditional balloon drop at the end of acceptance speeches; we'll be eagerly anticipating what sort of pyrotechnic displays the Democrats come up with in its stead.
As has long been noted, Obama's big rhetorical moment coincides with the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famed "I have a dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Monument in Washington.
And as McManus noted, the venue for Obama's remarks forges another link for him with John F. Kennedy, who after receiving the 1960 Democratic nomination at a nearby convention hall gave his acceptance speech at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (little reason to worry about rain intruding in the City of Angels).
Over the weekend, the prospect surfaced of another Obama/Kennedy comparison (as well as a nod to Ronald Reagan). The German magazine "Der Spiegel" reported that Obama's "planned European tour might make a major whistlestop in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The candidate's schedule isn't set, but a Berlin appearance before the end of July looks likely."
As the story recalls, the Brandenburg Gate is where Reagan gave his powerful 1987 speech urging then-Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down" the Berlin Wall (and, within a few years, what was perhaps the most obvious symbol of the Cold War was gone).
But Kennedy also made history in 1963 in what was then known as West Berlin, famously establishing his solidarity with its residents during a trip there by declaring, "Ich bin ein Berliner."
-- Don Frederick
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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Here goes this empty phoney Barack Obama again. He is hoping he can give a great speech once more to influence people to vote for him. He does not come close to being a John Kennedy or Ronald Reagan or Martin Luther King. We have a clear understanding of who these great men are and what they stand for. Who is flip/flop Obama? Large crowds of idol worshipers and emotional speeches has nothing to do with bringing this country out of the crisis we face today. However, speeches is all there is to Barack Obama.
Posted by: S.A. | July 07, 2008 at 02:15 PM
Why is Obama seen as a phony but not Kennedy or Reagan? Why is there so much hate speech concerning Senator Obama's campaign, a historic one for our beloved nation? Even if you do not support him, why can we not celebrate the ideals of our democracy that make a candidacy like his (the son of a teenage mother, a single parent, a biracial child from the working middle class, a brilliant mind and orator, whose political talents have defeated the strongest political machine in the US) possible here and no where else in the world? Dear fellow Americans, turn the page and listen to our better angels rather than the devils of division.
Posted by: shirlin | July 07, 2008 at 03:30 PM
SHIRLIN,
Barack Obama is a phoney. There has never before been a candidate for president with a 20 year close friendship with his pastor and church that's anti-american and racist. His other friends in that category,Ayers, Pfleger, Rezko, etc.There's more, and some of us don't trust him because of this. Who his parents are dosen't matter. He has a brilliant speech writer, not a brilliant mind. People will evaluate Obama and say what they think of him even if it's not what some people want to hear. I still think he has poor judgement, no experience, or real leadership. You should turn your page, maybe you can then read him better. You might see him as the real devil of division, hiding behind a mask and lies.
Posted by: Question | July 07, 2008 at 08:27 PM
For all the Obama doubters...Itz nothn but a crying shame to bring up a hollow protest with empty words to put him down...since no one can come up with a better alternative. It is time for all to look forward and leave behind a past with nothing to be proud of....going from bad to worse as days go by...face it...love him or not..u know deep within that Barack Obama is the best thing that could have happend to u in along time...and probably ur last best chance for hope and change..not just for USA but the entire global stage...letz turn the pages NOW.
Posted by: Steve.Jennz | July 08, 2008 at 07:33 AM