Being There. The History of it All
2008-08-26
By Eric Easter
As Michelle Obama neared the middle of her speech, e-mail from friends who knew I was at the convention started pouring in, all asking how it felt to be there – here in Denver – in the moment. “A Black woman this close to being First Lady, it must be powerful.”
Unfortunately, I disappointed them with my answer. As someone who’s crossed back and forth between politics and journalism, I’ve had the unique and blessed fortune to be present when history was made more than any normal person deserves. I have been lucky in that regard. But I can say with few exceptions, being a part of history rarely sinks in until well after the moment.
For a generation of people raised on television, and I am among them, these moments are best seen on television. Many a fan attending his or her first Super Bowl no doubt has discovered the same thing. There’s living it and there’s really seeing it up close, and often the living it pales in comparison to the better visual provided by a flat screen.
After Michelle Obama’s speech, I felt more weary from a day of writing than energized by the address. That’s no reflection on Michelle, only the reality of the effect of speech after speech after speech.
But during the long drive back to the hotel and the giddiness created by the fresh thin high altitude air in Denver, the moment began to sink it a bit, as it always does moments after the moment.
Likewise, when I watched a rerun of the speech hours later in my hotel room, I felt much more. Television created an intimacy that can’t be achieved from the convention floor – eye flutters, lip quivers, inspired reaction shots. They all build greater tension. As emotional a live moment as the speech of Senator Edward Kennedy, it became more powerful on the screen. Prompted by Maria Shriver’s visible choking, I choked. It is manipulation, but it is also connection, a connection you can’t feel as strongly when you’re seated next to the house band trying to figure what to write.
On the other hand while TV viewers get the intimacy, we in the building get the nuances. We know what jokes went over well and which didn’t. We can catch the subtleties in applause and gauge the differences between the broad claps for one speaker and the polite hand smacks for another. These are important memories as well.
To my friend who couldn’t make it, sorry I could not share the enthusiasm on cue. But be secure in the notion that in most cases, you have a better view of the action than those of us who got a chance to see it.
Eric Easter is Chief of Digital Strategy for Johnson Publishing Company. He writes about politics, culture and technology for ebonyjet.com.
