Not including our 9 current candidates, who is the best political speaker

[boxster]

you've ever seen speak in person, and why do you feel that he or she was the best?

I'll start, as my choice is probably a little out of the ordinary, especially coming from a white guy who grew up in South Dakota:

Jesse Jackson.

I saw him speak when he was running for the nomination in 1984.

What I saw was an African-American who received a boisterous, several-minute, standing ovation at the end of his speech from a high school auditorium full of very conservative, white farmers in a small town (1,000 people) in South Dakota. The reaction was unbelievable.

South Dakota was very much Reagan country in the early 80's, and the ovation was not an accomplishment to be taken lightly - his speech was nothing short of phenomenal.

This is silly, but when I got the chance to meet him and talk to him after the speech, my first thought was how TALL he was! TV does not do him justice.

[Brucey]

1. Eugene McCarthy was the best, I think, but

Jesse Jackson and Paul Wellstone rank right up there.

[fla nocount]

2. Tough, tough, tough question.........Rupert? n/t

*

[Padraig18]

3. Former US Rep. Glenn Poshard (D-IL)

The man's picture is in the dictionary beside the definition of 'orator'. :)

[ldf]

4. mario cuomo

n/t

[hlthe2b]

12. Mario Cuomo or the late Barbara Jordan...

(first African American Congresswoman from the south-- Texas). She was super. Mario is exquisite as well.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. I agree with those choices

Too bad Barbara couldn't have stuck around longer. I wonder what she'd be saying about our current mess. :-(

[Rooktoven]

5. Bill Clinton?

(I'll take the easy one)

[UrbScotty]

6. Robert Carlyle Byrd.

'nuff said.

[proud patriot]

7. Will Pitt n/t

[laura888]

11. yey - one of my favorites! where are you, will??

I want to see you on national TV every night!

[rucky]

8. John Lewis n/t

[leetrisck]

9. Bill Clinton and the present governor of Arkansas

Mike Huckabee - don't care for Mike politically but great speaker.

[elperromagico]

14. Saw Huckabee and Clinton

Huckabee does have that Baptist preacher's flair.

Hearing Clinton (he came back to Hot Springs to dedicate the old high school and I was in the band--- we played Hail to the Chief for da Prez) was so surreal that I honestly don't even remember what he said or how he said it. I wish I did.

On edit: Our late former governor, Sid McMath, was there as well. He must've been 85 years old at the time. I remember being impressed by his eloquence.

[chaumont58]

10. I've been watching politics since 1948 and.....

while there have been instances of brilliance by others, no one even comes close to the clarity and consistence of Bill Clinton. He is in a class by himself. I saw him for the first time in December '91, speaking to the NEA. What he was saying seem to make so much sense. During the campaign of '92, I saw several speeches he gave in Black Churches. They were phenomenal. Does anyone remember his State of the Union Messages? Perhaps not specifics, but the manner of his delivery.
I wonder how many votes the chimp will get?

[BadFaith]

13. Easy

Mario Cuomo, Keynote Speaker at the 1984 Democratic Nation Convention.

Excerpt Here

Applicable today, yes?

[stevedeshazer]

15. Robert Francis Kennedy n/t

[Poiuyt]

17. George and Hitler

I once heard a historian say that the greatest orators of the 20th century were the British statesman David Lloyd George and Adolf Hitler. I don't agree with Hitler's politics, but he was able to motivate a crowd. I think Martin Luther King could be put into that catagory, too, though I don't know if he would be consided a political speaker.

[MissMarple]

21. David Lloyd George was apparently so, Hitler, now,that would be a

cultural thing. Churchill, as I understand, could be quite good.

Martin Luther King was most definately a political speaker; he spoke for the rights of all human beings, across culture, across race. He truely was one of our great political speakers, although he was never a politician. That would have required compromise, and I don't believe he ever compromised on his beliefs and hopes for improving the human condition.

[boxster]

25. My original posting did say, "you've ever seen speak in person".

I kind of doubt you saw Hitler in person! :P

Re: MLK - I think he would be considered a "political" speaker - not that he was a politician, but more from the perspective that he was often making political statements.

[Cat Atomic]

18. Reagan was a fantastic speaker.

I always despised his politics, but credit where credit is due.

[Woodstock]

24. True, he'd have you thinking up was down and down was up

by the time he was done, he was that good

[boxster]

31. He must have been - he snowballed the vast majority of the public

for decades!

[JustJoe]

19. Malcolm X

Never saw him but for old clips...

[MissMarple]

20. The girl child saw John Podesta at Knox College.

She said he was great, from her that was some endorsement.. Aside from that, I, personally, would vote for Bill.

[Clark Can WIN]

22. Clinton

Saw him speak at our University.

[Woodstock]

23. Clinton

check out the Harkin Steak Fry speech on CSPAN

of the 9 candidates, I think Sharpton, Braun, and Edwards speak best

[boxster]

26. A Bill Clinton story....

My sister and my mother went to see him speak in Sioux City, IA in 1991. They both said that he was an incredible speaker.

His campaign was giving out t-shirts to some people in the crowd. The shirts said, "Vote for Hillary's husband", which is kind of funny in hindsight. My sister ended up with one of the t-shirts and tried to get Clinton to sign it, but she couldn't get far enough into the crowd to get it to him.

As Clinton and his entourage were getting ready to leave, one of Clinton's security detail saw my sister, asked her for the shirt, and said he'd be right back.

He took the shirt to Clinton's limo, Clinton signed it, and the security guy brought it back to my sister.

At the time, Clinton was just starting to get some momentum in the primaries and hardly anyone knew who he has. My sister had no clue that she had just gotten the signature of the future President of the U.S.

[Iverson]

27. Barbara Jordan was unparallelled.

Her clarity of thought and expression was just fantastic.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

28. A Young Ted Kennedy

His speech at the 1980 Democratic convention has been compared to William Jennings Bryant's Cross Of Gold speech...

His "Where Was George" speech at the 88 Dem Convention was great too....

[eleny]

29. Martin Luther King - 1963 Wash. D.C. "I have a dream"

Hands down - he gave me goosebumps. And yes, that was political.

[GabysPoppy]

30. Someone not mentioned above should be added to the list

Ron Dellums