The Obamas Strike Back

The Ezra Klein Show

New York Times Opinion

Society & Culture, Government, News

4.6 • 11K Ratings

🗓️ 21 August 2024

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Is Obamaism making a comeback? Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention, Michelle and Barack Obama electrified the crowd with the most powerful speeches of the week so far, and seemed to anoint Kamala Harris as the inheritor of their political movement. For this audio diary, I’m joined by my producer Elias Isquith to dissect those two speeches. We discuss what Obamaism was in 2008 and 2012, and what it means to pass the baton to Harris in 2024. Mentioned: “Biden Made Trump Bigger. Harris Makes Him Smaller.” by Ezra Klein “That Feeling You Recognize? Obamacore.” by Nate Jones Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs. This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced and hosted by Elias Isquith. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, with Mary Marge Locker and Kate Sinclair. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld. Our senior editor is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Annie Galvin, Rollin Hu, Kristin Lin and Aman Sahota. Original music by Aman Sahota and Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From New York Times opinion, this is the Ezra Klein show. Oh, Oh, It is Wednesday, August 21st. I spent last night at the second night of the Democratic National Convention, which was a night of
0:57.1	heavy hitters in the Democratic Party.
0:59.6	It was a night of Bernie Sanders, of Chuck Schumer, of J.B. Pritzker. of But it was above all the night of the obamas and we'll talk about both of them here
1:15.9	but it was specifically I would say the night of michael obama please welcome
1:21.4	former first lady, Michelle Obama.
1:27.8	When she came out the crowd roared for her, in a way it roared for no one else at night, in a way I have not heard it roar at this convention
1:35.2	in a way it would not even roar for her husband a couple of minutes later Hello Chicago.
1:46.0	And the beginning of a speech was very different than the beginning of any other Democrat speech at this convention.
1:53.2	Something wonderfully magical is in the air, isn't it?
1:58.5	Yeah.
1:59.5	Yeah. We're feeling it here in this arena, but it's spreading all across this country, we love.
2:08.8	A familiar feeling that's been buried too deep for far too long.
2:15.0	You know what I'm talking about?
2:20.0	It's the contagious power of hope.
2:23.0	The anticipation, the energy, the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day.
2:37.0	The chance to vanquish the demons of fear, division, and hate that have consumed us and continue pursuing
2:48.1	the unfinished promise of this great nation, the dream that our parents and grandparents fought and died and sacrificed for.
2:59.2	America, hope is making a comeback.
3:08.0	So I want to say a few things about this.
3:17.8	In this speech, which was one of the great pieces of political oratory I have heard, the best piece of oratory at the convention so far, probably the best there will be at the
3:22.0	convention.
3:23.0	Joe Biden didn't exist.
	...

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