Why good speeches matter

The US presidential campaign has given us the opportunity to see American politicians in action in a scenario which is familiar to a lot of us: their official party conventions, which would be the equivalent to our parties’ general conferences, where delegates cast their vote for the nominations, and supporters from all across the country show their loyalty to their party. In many ways they are also the closest thing to what we call “mass meetings”, where political leaders rally the troops with their rousing rhetoric. 

This week, in Philadelphia, the Democratic Party Convention has given us a wealth of inspiring speeches, from Michelle Obama, to Tim Kaine (Hillary Clinton’s running mate as her Vice-President) to President Barack Obama, to Hillary Clinton herself. Some people may not think these speeches are that important; it’s true that it is easy to be cynical and mock the unabashed patriotism and all the campaign slogans of “stronger together” and “history in the making” as mere convenient sound bites.

It is also true that we have had countless examples of great speakers who turn out to be not so great leaders when the going gets tough. Promises during these speeches of what they plan to do are very easily and quite often broken the minute the elected representative enters office, so I can understand how there are those who are highly skeptical and dismissive whenever a politician opens their mouth.

Yet, despite the fact that there are times when I feel very disillusioned with politics and politicians in general, a great speaker still has the ability to lift my spirits. While a part of me wants to send them all flying because they continually let us down once they are in the seat of power, another part of me is still an idealist in that way, wanting to think that it is possible to still find great leaders who lift us up, rather than dumb us down or take us for a ride.

Perhaps we are programmed to respond in this way, because deep down, as human beings, the hope that things will take a turn for the better is always there, tantalizing us, just out of reach. So when an excellent orator who strikes the right emotional chord comes along, it is like offering a drink to someone who is parched and dying of thirst in the desert. We look up, we pay attention and we reach out for it because we need it, we want it, we crave it.

There is something in the human spirit which needs to feel a connection with those it has elected to lead, to reassure ourselves that the trust we placed in that person has not been abused; that our judgement was not skewed; that the glimmer of decency we saw in that person has not been tarnished by the corrupting nature of power. Eight years down the line, I still see the basic decency and honesty behind the man who is Barack Obama and every time I hear him speak, I still believe that he was the best thing to have happened to the States in a long time.

He made mistakes, of course he did, and in his foreign policy decisions he may not have acted in the way many wanted him to. But at home, his ability to push through policies such as Obamacare showed determination. Obamacare was a huge milestone which those of us who take our free health service so much for granted can never begin to appreciate. Most of all, the impact of his presidency will leave a lasting mark on African Americans who see in him the possibility that they too can be high achievers. This is an essential lesson which can only be taught when you see a person who looks like you occupying the most important position in the nation. That photo of Obama stooping down so that a little black boy can touch his hair because he wondered “is my hair like yours? ”, is symbolic in so many ways. 

In a country where racial tensions and prejudice are still rife, it is crucial for black Americans to know that not only can they dream of lifting themselves out of a cycle of poverty through education and hard work, but they have been presented, in their lifetime, with the greatest example of all that anything they set their minds on is achievable, no matter their skin colour.

And if Obama, with his eloquence and calm, measured tones has been a role model in the way he speaks and behaves at all moments, then his wife Michelle, as First Lady has been equally influential. 

A mesmerizing speaker, she captivated her audience with statements such as “when someone is cruel or acts like a bully you don’t act like them or stoop to their level. When they go low, we go high”.

But, I can hear you scoff, they all have speech writers, right? Yes, sure they do, but speechwriters work with the politician to capture their essence, to use their personal anecdotes and it takes more than someone else writing a speech for one to be able to know how to deliver it. 

At a time when the American public is being faced with a choice between two diametrically opposite type of politicians: one with long years of public service and political experience, the other an entrepreneur coming from the corporate world and a Reality TV franchise, with no political experience at all, the Democrats have been very careful to keep underlining these differences.

Every speaker deliberately made constant references to what it means to come from blue collar backgrounds and work your way up; the very essence of the American dream. Tim Kaine, in his own folksy way, described how he worked at grassroots level in his home state as he climbed the political ladder, always reminding his listeners that he got to where he is because he is a man of the people who never lost touch with his constituents. 

As Donald Trump banged on about creating even more division and building walls, with that insufferable haughty sneer on his face and his clownish facial expressions, the Democratic party speakers pointedly stressed inclusion, building each other up, working together as a nation with concrete examples of how adversity has been overcome when the melting pot which makes America what it is, is united rather than divided.

This is not just mere talk, it is very essential in the atmosphere we are living in today and that is why all eyes are on the US to see who they will elect. The way forward will very much depend on who is sitting in that sensitive office known as The Oval. It is a choice between someone who keeps their head when faced with a foreign crisis or a flamboyant showman who keeps treating this election as one big joke. As Hillary Clinton rightly pointed out, “A man you can bait with a Tweet is not a man you can trust with nuclear weapons”.

The significance of having a woman in the White House can also not be overlooked. I don’t believe she should be elected purely because she is a woman (my first choice would have been Bernie Sanders), but given the ghastly, very scary, alternative (Trump), and hearing her speech at the Convention, I think she has the right statesmanlike qualities and would prove herself worthy. With razor-sharp precision, she zeroed in on issues which everyone can relate to:

On family: “If fighting for affordable childcare and paid family leave is playing the ‘woman card’, than deal me in!”

On poverty: “If you believe that no person on a minimum wage should be raising their child in poverty, join us”

On guns: “I’m not here to repeal the 2nd Amendment. I’m not here to take away your guns. I just don’t want you to be shot by someone who shouldn’t have a gun in the first place.”

Above all, just as Obama will go down in history as America’s first black President, something considered inconceivable eight years ago, so too can Hillary become a potent symbol for all little girls growing up today. Seeing a woman in the White House for the first time ever, someone just like them – that would be the best possible role model girls could ever have.