M-Obama mania at Moscone
Tuesday, June 23, 2009, 10:04am PDT
As state unemployment soars toward 12 percent and the recession settles in but good, Michelle Obama passed through town yesterday to exhort more Americans to work for free.
And oh, how 5,000 people cheered just to hear her.
Talk about knowing your audience.
The pitch at Moscone West was the public unveiling of the Administration’s “United We Serve” campaign (and a new volunteerism website,
www.serve.gov), a reflection of both Obamas’ commitment to public and community service. The case was made over and over, by Mrs. Obama and by the other politico-celebrities who took the stage, that as this recession threatens society’s most vulnerable and swells the ranks of the needy, it's never been more pressing for people to step up and serve.
Consider it social infrastructure building. Michelle Obama does.
The printed text of Obama’s speech struck me as flat. But oh, to watch her deliver it. She borrowed some oratorical flourishes from her husband’s playbook, and equally impressive, ad-libbed with ease.
You see, the teleprompters were too low for her to read, so she relied on her notes. She stuck largely to her script, but when she wavered it was to make a personal connection to the adoring audience (“I feel like I am with my people.”), to highlight her own lifetime of service, or to inject her earthy humor to the dry words, as when she joked that she handled the tools better than Maria Shriver when the two were building a playground at Bret Harte Elementary School that morning.
How those volunteer leaders from all across this nation loved her.
Among the politicians to take the stage, only Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had near the rock-star reception that Obama received.
He pledged to pump up the audience, and they roared their pleasure. As he highlighted his own administration’s commitment to volunteerism, they roared louder. His central message was simply to ask people to ask other people to serve. “Are you ready?” Schwarzenegger finally asked the audience. The response was deafening.
Many flocked to the exits after Obama finished speaking. (She followed the governor.)
Those who stayed found almost greater reason to cheer when Jon Bon Jovi arrived as a surprise guest.
An afternoon that had the distinct feel of a rock concert finally became one.
“I’m preaching to the converted,” he said. So he started to sing.
Bon Jovi started with a not-yet-released song from a forthcoming album that he clearly sees as the working stiff’s anthem for this recession and the unemployed.
Called “Work for the Working Man,” the refrain was a catchy, if unsubtle, “Who’s gonna work for the working man?”
The lyrics are as direct: “Empty pockets, full of worry/Had to get two jobs and hard enough just getting by,” goes one line. Near the end, the song lists the woes of the laid off: “Lost my pension/They took my I.D./These were my friends/These were my dreams/These were my hopes/These are my streets/Can you hear me?”
The new song was followed by a down tempo arrangement of “Living on a Prayer” and a decidedly upbeat “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.”
And while the message was a downer, Bon Jovi garnered cheers almost as loud as did Mrs. Obama.
Alas, few of the crowd remained to watch Matthew McConnaughy take the stage at the end as a final surprise.
After Nancy Pelosi, Maria Shriver, the Governator, Michelle Obama (and her bare arms) and this mini concert, McConnaughy’s understated, folksy charm didn’t stand a chance.
Besides, it was dinner time.
http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/...t_moscone.html
Ending of the new song -
Prayer -
Jon on CNN this morning -
http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/author/amfix/
Now I'm really hoping to hear something new on Thursday in Milwaukee!