Obama to deliver nomination speech directly to the public

This August, during the final day of the Democratic National Convention, Presidential favorite Barack Obama will symbolically leave his scheduled place at the podium, routinely used to address the party's delegates, to deliver his official acceptance speech outside, in the open air, directly to the public.

Typically, Presidential nominees formally accept the nomination in the same setting we have all seen on TV - amid a sea of balloons, posters, and cheering fans. However, these "fans" are not the general public; they are primarily the delegates, political elites chosen to represent the fifty states, handpicked for their unwavering support of the party itself. This carefully scripted event rarely has many surprises, with speeches, agendas, platforms, and nominations all worked out months before.

I found a surprise waiting in my Gmail inbox today. This form letter, sent today to every registered member of my.BarackObama.com, proclaims that the candidate will break from tradition, and address his acceptance speech directly to the American public:

---------------
[Name] -- Join Barack at the Open Convention

I wanted you to be the first to hear the news.

At the Democratic National Convention next month, we're going to kick off the general election with an event that opens up the political process the same way we've opened it up throughout this campaign.

Barack has made it clear that this is your convention, not his.

On Thursday, August 28th, he's scheduled to formally accept the Democratic nomination in a speech at the convention hall in front of the assembled delegates.

Instead, Barack will leave the convention hall and join more than 75,000 people for a huge, free, open-air event where he will deliver his acceptance speech to the American people.

It's going to be an amazing event, and Barack would like you to join him. Free tickets will become available as the date approaches, but we've reserved a special place for a few of the people who brought us this far and who continue to drive this campaign.

If you make a donation of $5 or more between now and midnight on July 31st, you could be one of 10 supporters chosen to fly to Denver and spend two days and nights at the convention, meet Barack backstage, and watch his acceptance speech in person. Each of the ten supporters who are selected will be able to bring one guest to join them.

Make a donation now and you could have a front row seat to history:

[Donation link edited out]

We'll follow up with more details on this and other convention activities as we get closer, but please take a moment and pass this note to someone you know who might like to be there.

It will be an event you'll never forget.

Thank you,

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America
----------------------------

After being turned away from the doors of the Democratic National Convention in 2004, (held in my home town of Boston, MA) I became frustrated with the message these conventions send, that only those who had financially supported the party were important enough to be addressed by the candidate himself. Whereas the majority of voters, in the past, have neither the political access nor the desire to spend multiple hundreds of dollars on a ticket to the convention, Obama's decision to hold his acceptance speech outside will allow tens of thousands more to hear the candidate in person, for free. While this exciting event is primarily a symbolic gesture, it is an extension of a message central to his campaign - to change the American political process which has become so profoundly routine.

I, for one, will be there.