Who is the best speaker in our party?

[Stinky The Clown]

This isn't a poll because there's no way a DU poll could fit in all the possible choices.

And what is meant by 'best speaker'? The one who fires *you* up is a good possibility. So is the one who you agree with a bit less but who, by virtue of their very passion, you most admire. Or maybe it is someone who is just one hell of an inspiring orator. (Note, radio and teevee personalities are not to be included ... they're a whole different group.)

Who is you favorite speaker?

Mine is, hands down, Mario Cuomo.

No one can surgically, artfully, and precisely turn a phrase as he can. In the use of words, he is a Michelangelo.

Some runners up:
Jesse Jackson (and maybe I mean in years past, and not so much anymore)
Al Sharpton (for oratory and style far more than for substance)
Barbara Boxer (substance, style, and quiet passion)
Charlie Rangel (purely for style)
Barney Frank (I hardly ever disagree with him and love that he's so damned 'in your face' with an informed and controlled anger).
Howard Dean (from 'The Scream' to today, 'in your face' all the way)
Sheila Jackson Lee (powerful and intense)

Posthumous High Honors:
Barbara Jordan
Paul Wellstone

If you choose to answer, please give a bit of the 'why' in addition to the 'who'.

[Freedomfried]

1. George Galloway

[Gregorian]

2. Wes Clark

Maybe it's just me, but every time I heard him speak, I cheered. And I don't remember what it was, now. Perhaps his ability to be simple and effective. Perhaps just my genetic configuration being pleased by the sound of his voice. He's my pick.

[sendero]

19. I'll second that..

.... I've only heard Clark in the interview format, but I have been impressed every single time with his ability to express his position and progressive ideals in a way that is at once comprehensive and yet simple.

This man could capture the hearts of Americans, I really believe it.

[rndmprsn]

3. al sharpton and howard dean get me going the most...

[Drnaline]

4. My first politician

Bill Richardson.

[Hippo_Tron]

5. Big Dog is in the runners up and I would bump Wellstone into that category

Wellstone was one of those guys who could really get a crowd excited.

[ecstatic]

6. Al Sharpton has plenty of substance in his speeches

I watched as all the other primary candidates stole his talking points--including the main one of being against the war! People wrongly assume that because Sharpton includes humor in his speeches that he has less substance... as opposed to, say, Kerry, who can ramble on and on without saying much.

[xkenx]

7. I AGREE

about Mario Cuomo, but Wes clark has inspired me like no public figure since Bobby Kennedy.

[FrenchieCat]

8. If it can be based on

Just one speech, then I will say that Obama did "it" to me with his convention speech.

I'm pretty sure that Martin Luther King Jr. was a Democrat, so I'll choose him Posthumously.

Wes Clark has inspired me the most in getting my lazy ass to working for the party.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. MLK ... how could I have forgotten to list him in my OP?

Mea maxima culpa

[HR_Pufnstuf]

11. agree.

obama.

http://www.dems2004.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=luI2LaPYG&b=131063&ct=158769

or dean.

http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2004/dnc0203/dean022103spt.html

[smartvoter]

10. Bill Clinton is one hell of a public speaker. nt

[tritsofme]

12. Bill Clinton

If we are talking about today. No one even comes close.

You can't forget JFK either.

FDR's strength as a speaker also brought us through some of our nation's toughest times.

[snowbear]

13. Clark, Cuomo, Boxer, Spitzer, Big Dog, Rangel, Obama...

And WAY too many others to mention!! :hug:

[AntiCoup2K4]

14. Definitely Howard Dean, as a choice of those still with us.

It was Dean's speech to the California Democratic Party in 2003 which brought me into the Dean campaign. The speech used to be on the old DFA website but they took it down :(

Al Gore has given some tremendous speeches over the last 4 years or so. I only wish he would have had that fire in the 2000 campaign, and kept the election from being close enough to steal.


Barack Obama gave a great speech at the convention last year, but it's been tainted somewhat by his voting so far.

As for those I wish we had now, it would be all the usual three letter initials FDR, JFK, RFK, and MLK. Two great Presidents and two great men who would have been.

[cleveramerican]

15. Sensible and Smart--- Joe Biden!

Since the election I've seen him many times and have always come away impressed by his style and discipline. Joe Biden is the voice of the party for me right now , until Dean grows into his job, I hope.

[election_2004]

16. Boxer and Conyers

If you mean out of ALL Democrats (rather than just the realistic presidential prospects), I'd have to say that Barbara Boxer and John Conyers top the list!

[Stinky The Clown]

25. Absolutely it is all democrats.

This is a discussion of speakers, not candidates.

[Totally Committed]

17. Mario Cuomo is #1...

Love him or not, Bill Clinton is #2.

But, anyone who saw Wes Clark's speech at the Democratic National Convention will tell you it ranks right up there with the best political speeches ever given. He was on fire, and many (including myself) were moved to tears. The ovations he recieved were deafening.

There is a style quotient to giving a speech. Cuomo has fire. Clinton is folksy. But, what matters to me in this style over substance age we live in is heart. Who speaks for me? Who says what needs to be said? Who says the gutsy thing? I look for that now.

The way a politician says something is no longer the most paramount thing. I wanna know what (s)he thinks... really thinks, and feels, and promises. It's the vision thing now, too.

I want a leader who can do more than give a speech. I want a leader than can deliver the goods. Wes Clark is my leader-of-choice.

Clark, Boxer, Conyers, Cuomo, Dean... all gutsy truth-tellers!

TC

[H2O Man]

18. Cuomo and Jackson.

I think that Mario Cuomo and Jesse Jackson are the two best speakers in the party. Cuomo can reach the more conservative thinkers in the United States; Jesse can reach the most radical thinkers around the globe.

My favorite public speaker, though not a democrat, was Malcolm X.

[Totally Committed]

20. I have lost all respect for Jackson...

over his unerring support for Michael Jackson.

He has lost every ounce of credibility with me, and a lot of people I know. He is useless to us now.

Sorry, but that's how I see it. As a life-long child welfare advocate, Jess has lost me forever. Not only do I not care what he has to say, I don't care how well he says it, either.

TC

[H2O Man]

21. That's certainly your right.

I'd question what amount of respect you had for him if his disagreeing with you on one issue has resulted in such a total loss.

[Totally Committed]

22. I loved Jesse...

and have always had the highest respect for him... dating all the way back to his days with Martin Luther King, Jr.

But as a child welfare advocate who has counseled thousands of sexually abused children over the years, I have absolutely no respect for him now. While I realize that some people are victimized because of their color (I am well aware, say, of the ratio of black to white in our penal system, and on Death Row...), a grown man who thinks it is okay (by his own admission) to sleep with children is an abuser. And with his admitted record over the years... a serial abuser. For Jesse to defend this behavior (or the man whose behavior it is) is inexcusable. Michael Jackson was not accused because he was black, he was accused because he has admitted sleeping with children and he's rich. That made him stupid, abusive and ripe for the fleecing.

When a grown man sleeps with children in his bed, and sees nothing wrong with that behavior, he has no boundaries. I do not doubt that he has sexually abused children. He's just lucky that the people who have gone after him for it have been so blatantly after his money, and a person as reputable as Jesse Jackson were misguided enough to stand up for him.

Please never question my "respect" quotient for Jesse Jackson. It used to be very high, but I feel totally within my rights to be extremely disappointed in him now.

TC

[ArkDem]

23. Has to be Cynthia McKinney!

[Cats Against Frist]

24. I'll second your Mario Cuomo

Brilliant man. Patient, convincing, not-strill speaker. The only politicians I gush over are Thomas Jefferson and Mario Cuomo.

[HootieMcBoob]

26. Byrd is the best speaker in my opinion

I would say that Cuomo was at one time.
Obama is right up there as well, his keynote at the convention was brilliant. If you compare and contrast his keynote with that asshat who's name I refuse to mention's keynote during the Republican convention you will have a clear picture of the identities of each party.

[Roland99]

27. Barak Obama

[demokatgurrl]

28. I'm with you. Cuomo, then Bill- and I like all your runners up too! n/t

[Pryderi]

29. Ted Kennedy, Mario Cuomo and Robert Reich

[JHBowden]

30. William Jefferson Clinton

No one else comes close.

[NewJeffCT]

31. Bill Clinton, Mario Cuomo, Jesse Jackson

Al Sharpton is terrific as well.

[bribri16]

32. Bill Clinton, hands down. But most Dems are great speakers because

they have something meaningful to say. Clinton everyone. Jesse Jackson for the common person. Durbin/McGovern/Ramsey Clark for the intellectuals.

[kodi]

33. mario and barney seem to be the very best at articulating ideas

Cuomo's 1984 Democratic National Convention keynote speech was one of the century's best speeches, and all the more impressive, considering he was supposed to have written it himself.

only MLK's "I have a Dream" speech, Kennedy's(sorenson's) 1960 Inaugural speech and the one he gave accepting the presidential nomination of the Liberal Party of New York ("Why I am a Liberal") are better.

Barney Frank is the best at dissecting an adversary's statements and showing them as the foolish remarks they usually are.

[FightinNewDem]

34. Bill Clinton, Joe Biden

Both WJC and JRB have a gift for connecting with people in a way that isn't rooted in partisanship or even politics. They reach folks on a values-based level. They might not always throw out enough red meat to placate the hard-core partisans, but they remain the two best salesmen for the Democratic Party's message.

[Marnieworld]

35. Mario Cuomo was my first thought

I love that guy.

[Marnieworld]

36. Maxine Waters too- Don't forget Byrd

Anyone from the CBC really. Byrd's creaky but still soooo powerful