2004 Democratic National Convention

The 2004 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention that took place from July 26 to July 29, 2004 at the TD Banknorth Garden, then called FleetCenter, in Boston, Massachusetts. The convention was one of a series of historic quadrennial meetings of the Democratic Party with a primary focus on officially nominating a candidate for President and adopting a party platform. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson served as chairman while former presidential advisor to Bill Clinton, Lottie Shackelford, served as vice chairman.

Keynote address

Illinois state Senator Barack Obama delivered the convention's keynote address, becoming the third African American to do so since Barbara Jordan in 1976. Obama, a candidate for the United States Senate from Illinois, was enthusiastically received by the delegates, who waved blue-and-white campaign signs and chanted his name. The excitement of his reception rivaled that of President Clinton's entrance the night before.

Related Topics:
Illinois state Senator - Barack Obama - Keynote address - African American - Barbara Jordan - 1976 - Illinois

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As the keynote speaker, Obama set the tone for the party platform. His speech, proclaiming the unnecessary and artificial divides in American culture and politics, was reminiscent of John Edwards's "Two Americas" stump speech: "There's not a liberal conservative America—there's the United States of America." Obama emphasized the importance of unity, and made veiled jabs at the Bush administration and the news media's perceived oversimplification and diversionary use of wedge issues: "We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states. We coach Little League in the blue states, and yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states. There are patriots who opposed the war, and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the Stars and Stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."

Related Topics:
Party platform - Liberal - Conservative - Bush administration - News media - Wedge issue - God - Blue states - Poking around our libraries - Red states - Little League - Gay - Patriots - Opposed - War - Pledging allegiance

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The overall theme of Obama's address was the nature of the American Dream. Obama noted his interracial and international heritage: he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to a Kenyan immigrant father and a white mother from Kansas. He emphasized the power of education, recounting the privilege of attending the exclusive Punahou School and Harvard Law School despite his family's poverty, and tangentially criticized poor black youths who believe that reading a book is "acting white." He went on to describe his successful career in law and politics while raising a family in Chicago. "In no other country on Earth is my story even possible," Obama proclaimed. He identified himself as "a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too."

Related Topics:
American Dream - Honolulu, Hawaii - Kenya - White - Kansas - Punahou School - Harvard Law School - Poverty - Law - Politics - Chicago

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Obama's powerful performance led to much speculation as to his place in the party and the nation's future. After Obama had left the stage, media commentators, panels of historians and political scientists on the major television networks began explicating what many began calling the "Obama phenomenon" — in Illinois and elsewhere in the country. It was pointed out that many in Illinois openly discussed Obama's future as a possible presidential candidate, especially evident in his ability to capture white votes like no other racial minority candidate had ever done in downstate Illinois. While Obama was praised greatly by pundits and offered enthusiastic speculation, others cautioned that Obama was still a mere state legislator and had much more to experience and accomplish before even attempting a run for national office.

Related Topics:
Historians - Political scientists - Television

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Quotes

• "That is the true genius of America, a faith in the simple dreams of its people, the insistence on small miracles. That we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door. That we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe or hiring somebody's son. That we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution, and that our votes will be counted-or at least, most of the time." —Barack Obama
• "In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope? I'm not talking about blind optimism here...No, I'm talking about something more substantial. It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. The audacity of hope!" —Barack Obama
• "We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and yes, we've got some gay friends in the Red States." —Barack Obama