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A night like none we've seen

June 4, 2008 — When have we seen a night in American politics like June 3, 2008, with so much drama only midway through the presidential election year?

Tuesday night was an historical milestone because of Barack Obama remarkable achievement in becoming the first African-American to clinch a major party nomination, but it was everything in the evening that led up to that milestone moment, with not one but three contenders for the presidency speaking to the nation five months before the election – with the nation paying attention -- which made it unique.

Who might have imagined a year ago that the evening would begin with the Republican nominee on a state with Buddy Roemer and Bobby Jindal in Kenner, La., listing in detail his differences with George W. Bush?

John McCain’s decision to speak on the night Obama went over the top has already been questioned because Obama so obviously got the better of him in terms of staging and rhetoric. But on a night of much symbolism, allow one quick note about substance.

In a year when storm forecasters are predicting a slew of Atlantic hurricanes, McCain, in his less-than-charismatic way, may have hit the equivalent of a substance homerun with his commitment to fix the nation’s disaster preparedness system so that it won’t be caught short as it was when Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf.

The overall lack of discussion on this subject, apart from the standard sentiments about Katrina victims, has been striking, has been a striking absence in this campaign, when you think about it.

In terms of substance also, McCain’s promise to make a clean break on energy policy with every previous administration amounts does signal a note of reform, and his jab at Obama for voting for the Bush energy bill was an interesting ploy.

McCain’s perspicacity in spotlighting these issues – part of his overall effort to distance himself from Bush – will take a long time to pay off. But don’t count out a tortoise in a race with two hares.

Clinton’s voters are the battleground demographic, however you want to define it, in this campaign. They had already heard a direct entreaty from McCain before Clinton stepped to the podium in New York. But she was not ready to let her voters go to anybody.

In effect, Clinton called an end to this long primary and caucus season by declaring another election – this one to be conducted by internet, among her voters, to determine what she should do next. “We want to hear from you,” she said, and predictably she will.

Clinton can be faulted for her brazenness in carrying on her campaign on a night when Obama was making history, but in blunt fashion she made her point. Obama, in his speech, went to great lengths to praise Clinton even as he threw down the gauntlet to McCain, but he still faces a tricky few days attempting to negotiate his rival’s exit.

Last in this remarkable evening came Obama, speaking in the hall where McCain will accept the Republican nomination this September to a much larger crowd than either of those which had cheered his rivals. If McCain was underappreciated for what he said about issues, and if Clinton showed a visceral connection with Democratic voters that will be hard to match, Obama showed again the absolute poise with which he can seize the moment.

It takes audacity of a special kind to be understated about historical significance of claiming the nomination as the first African-American, while daring to predict that this might one day be looked back on as “the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless ... the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal ... the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth.”

Quite a moment, quite an evening, and quite a race.