Where this was said
Obama, Michelle, and the First Black President Standard
At 32:05 · chapter starts 26:30
Jon Lovett delivers a sharp observation: the 2008 Obama campaign ran on 'change,' but what actually closed the deal against John McCain during the financial crisis was something quieter — a preternatural evenness, reliability, and trustworthiness that gave voters permission to take a chance on him when McCain appeared erratic. That quality now stands in stark contrast to Trump. Dan Pfeiffer adds that working for Obama meant knowing he had a core belief about literally anything you brought him, and it always came from a good place — a contrast to walking into today's Oval Office where staffers are day-trading on the Iran war. Jon Favreau invokes Ta-Nehisi Coates's famous line from his long profile of Obama: 'For 8 years he walked on ice and never fell.' The hosts then turn to Michelle's speech directly, noting that she made text what was always subtext — that Obama for 8 years could not make a single mistake, could not lash out, could not send an angry tweet, because how he performed as the first Black president would determine whether and when there would be a second. Tommy Vietor notes one concrete example she cited: Obama pointing out that Trayvon Martin looked like what his son would look like.
Michelle Obama's dedication speech at the Obama Presidential Center moved the audience to tears — including the sign language interpreter. Her remarks on the impossible standard applied to the first Black president, her barely-veiled indictment of the current administration, and her rallying cry that people of all backgrounds are America made it arguably the most powerful political speech of the year.
The 2008 Obama campaign ran on 'change,' but what actually carried him to the White House in the final weeks was something quieter: a preternatural evenness and reliability that made voters comfortable taking a chance on him when the financial crisis hit and John McCain seemed erratic. That calm has only grown more striking in contrast to what Trump is.
Jon Favreau cited Ta-Nehisi Coates's famous line that for eight years Obama walked on ice and never fell, capturing the impossible standard applied to the first Black president.
