Richard Baum

One of the things I enjoy most about being a Councillor is that every so often I get to write a speech, and give it, and have people listen to it. Maybe it’s because I was always good at “English” at school. Maybe it’s because I have ideas about things and relish the chance to give them voice. Or maybe I’m an egomaniac…

Whatever the reason,  I do like political speeches, even when it’s not me writing and giving them. More than any other form of communication, a few words spoken from the mouths of leaders can influence the course of history. How many were inspired by Martin Luther King saying “I have a dream?” Would the people of this country have remained strong against the Nazis were it not for Churchill saying that “We will never surrender”? President Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg talked about “Government of the people, by the people, for the people” - a concept used to drive forward democracy for nearly 150 years since.

The Gettysburg address, by the way, contained less than 300 words and took two minutes to deliver. This single blog post is well over twice as long! Managing to define a century, crystallise a vision of government, and go down in history simultaneously in the time it takes to phone for a pizza is quite a feat!

I write speeches for Council and they aren’t even in the same universe as the great ones. For starters I don’t have the talent, but thankfully I can hide behind the excuse that it’s difficult to inspire a generation on the topic of free bus travel for the elderly.

One day I want to write a speech that blows the doors off the room, with a broad theme and full of concepts that appeal to everyone. In the meantime I learn from other people, and I have quite a guide in whoever is writing Senator Barack Obama’s speeches. It’s not often that I read a speech on the computer screen off a website and it brings tears to my eyes. I do with some of his. Any writer who can manage to convey such hope through a speech without his words even being spoken aloud is a genius. And when combined with Barack Obama’s rhetoric, which could stir a corpse to dancing, the words become stellar and I genuinely believe will help to change the world.

Last night’s convention speech by Senator Obama, accepting the Democratic nomination for President, was one such speech. An astounding tour-de-force of inspiration. I think everyone should read it.

I won’t critique the American Presidential race. I don’t know enough about it beyond what I read in the news, and there are plenty of others who can give better analysis than I can. But I know the power of words, and how they inspire whole countries to action and change. At a time when the world’s feelings towards America have massive ramifications for us all, I want a leader at the helm who can make a difference with words as well as bombs. Someone who can inspire and who’s vision of hope can be communicated across the world.

Unfortunately, I know, it’s more complicated than that. I care a lot less about what the next President will do to American domestic education policy than I do about what he’ll do against global terror. Which is why I don’t have a vote in the election and why a President’s job is the world’s toughest balancing act. I just wish it wasn’t quite so complicated, and that we all did have a vote over here!

Some (just some) of the criticism of President Bush is unjust. And some (not all) of the faith put in Senator Obama to change the world is doubtless mis-placed. But I want the President of the United States to be a leader of the world capable of making the positive case for liberty and reason. And with speeches like this he will help bring billions onto the side of freedom and progress.

Rick