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Patriotism, Hope, and Michelle Obama's Dedication Speech
At 15:35 · chapter starts 14:06
Michelle Obama's dedication speech emerges as the emotional centerpiece of the day. Jon Favreau says it was the first time all week he actually cried — he describes her riff on hope as a choice (you can decide to stop complaining and put your shoulder to the wheel) as what did it for him. Dan Pfeiffer says he lost it when Michelle talked about how she just wants to brag about Barack and described how he would gather himself no matter how terrible the day was to make every new person who walked into the Oval feel that this interaction with the president was the most important moment of their life. Tommy Vietor adds that Obama's unabashed patriotism is what Democrats most often fail to replicate — he recounts attending a USA-Paraguay World Cup game, chanting USA with thousands of fans including immigrants, and feeling that this brand of politics is what's missing from the current Democratic Party. Jon Favreau extends the point: World Cup visitors from abroad who expected a dark dystopian America have been posting on social media that the country is warm and wonderful, a reminder not to let Trump define the country to its own citizens. Jon Lovett's counter: there's also an 'ICE agent in every heart' — Trump's genius is activating people's worst impulses — and Michelle's speech was powerful precisely because it acknowledged people's agency and culpability in that choice.
Tommy Vietor went to a USA-Paraguay World Cup qualifier and felt something that's been missing from Democratic politics: unabashed love of country. Jon Favreau cited World Cup visitors from abroad who expected a dystopia and found a great nation. The message: just because Trump is president doesn't mean the country is bad — and Democrats need to stop ceding that terrain.
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