Obama “to Dispel Eight Years of Pain and Shame”

In case ailing Senator Edward Kennedy’s speech last night at the Democratic National Convention didn’t establish the parallels clearly enough between John F. Kennedy and the nearly as young, equally magnetic Barack Obama, today’s address by lawyer-speechwriter Ted Sorenson--once known as JFK’s “alter ego”--sought to cement those connections. He began:

In my more than 50 years of national conventions, this is one of the most important. Our eight-year national nightmare of mendacity, mediocrity and economic misery--with millions of Americans losing their jobs, their savings, their homes and their hopes--will soon end with the election of Barack Obama.

I have long dreamed that our party would produce another president matching John F. Kennedy’s intellect and integrity, his capacity to inspire justice at home and peace around the world--and this week my dream is coming true. Once in a lifetime, said the poet, hope and history meet in one extraordinary man and movement--I thank the good Lord that I’ve lived long enough to meet and help such men twice in my lifetime, John Kennedy and Barack Obama.

The full text of Sorenson’s short address can be found here.