Obama's Big Fat Greek Setting

Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. J. Scott Gration takes the stage at the "Barackenon." (By Preston Keres -- The Washington Post)   |   Buy Photo

But instead of savoring the history-making, Obama aides found themselves answering questions about the columns and the stadium from anxious Democrats and from journalists -- as when Obama campaign manager David Plouffe was asked Thursday in an interview with Washington Post reporters and editors whether he was concerned about the "Grecian columns" and a "carnival atmosphere."

"Not one bit," he replied. "The backdrop is about exactly what President Bush used in 2004."

Well, yes, there were images of pillars behind Bush four years ago. But Bush is also the guy who landed in a flight suit on an aircraft carrier to declare victory in Iraq beneath a "Mission Accomplished" banner.

The football-stadium option also meant that the Democrats had to contend with the daunting logistics of putting more than 84,000 people through security, and the effort teetered on disaster. Attendees waited upward of three hours in lines estimated to extend for miles; empty seats near the top of the stadium suggested that some gave up.

After nightfall, the nominee emerged between the columns, walked out to the wedding cake and waved skyward. He delivered a speech that soared to the heights of Mount Olympus.

"Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and independents across this great land: Enough!" he thundered.

Before he finished, Obama served up some Greek mythology. "They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values," he said. "If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from. You make a big election about small things."

He didn't say whether he had the Barackopolis in mind.

The speech ended, the nominee gazed heavenward, and red, white and blue fireworks poured from the tops of the columns. Streamers hung over the Doric frieze. Triumphant orchestral music played, and Obama, his running mate, and his family departed through the still-smoking Pillars of Hercules.