On President Obama's DNC speech... by Michael Cohen

WATCH OBAMA 2012 Democratic National Convention Speech Here! ------------- At their core, presidential elections are choices: a choice between two candidates and two parties, a choice between two ideas of government and a choice between two visions for the country's future. And in his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention in Charlotte, President Obama made this singular decision, faced by voters, the crucial theme of his speech: "When all is said and done, when you pick up that ballot to vote. You will face the clearest choice of any time in a generation. Over the next few years, big decisions will be made in Washington, on jobs and the economy; taxes and deficits; energy and education; war and peace – decisions that will have a huge impact on our lives and our children's lives for decades to come." The rest of the speech was Obama's rather one-sided take on how Democrats and Republicans see those choices – between more support for manufacturing jobs in the United States and "tax breaks to ship jobs overseas"; between doubling the use of renewable energy and letting "oil companies write this country's energy plan"; between an internationalist foreign policy that takes on America's enemies and one "stuck in a cold war time warp". You don't have to buy the notion that the decision for voters is this binary, but no one ever said political rhetoric was subtle. After three days of a convention that sought to define Mitt Romney as an out-of-touch 1%er, that catered to the concerns of core Democratic constituencies and trumpeted the President's record of accomplishment, Obama's job was to make their decision as stark as possible, while at the same time giving voters a real sense that he had a vision for the future that reflected their concerns. As Obama said repeatedly, "You can choose that future." The result was not a typical soaring Obama speech and, from this correspondent's vantage point, seemed almost self-consciously to tamp down the glossy rhetoric of the 2008 campaign trail. Rather, this speech was workmanlike in its approach; more effective than ebullient; and less about change and more about choices. There were memorable touches, as well: paeans to patriotism that were in the spirit of an evening heavy on national security; a lovely digression on the meaning of freedom that sought to cast it as practically indistinguishable from liberalism; and Obama's own take on "you didn't build that" – "you did that." There was almost a sense of wariness in the president's words – one that reflected the country's and the Obama's struggles, both economic and political, over the last four years. At the same time, this was a president who came across as confident and determined. This was not Obama's best speech; but it was one that was solid and offered voters a clear and unambiguous sense of the choice they face this November. In the end, that was Obama's purpose after his wife's and former President Clinton's rousing addresses. He didn't have to be great, he just had to be effective – and he was.

Michael Cohen is a US political columnist for the Observer and the Guardian