The Obama Speech

That was simply amazing. It was the best speech by a politician, or by anyone for that matter, that I have ever heard, hands down.

He did everything he needed to do, hit every area he needed to hit, and dropped more than one notable, time-enduring quote.

It started with a biographical video beforehand that was so deeply personal it let everyone know exactly who Barack Obama is and where he came from. He alluded to this in his speech as well, and I'm paraphrasing here, that his upbringing was not that of any celebrity, taking a shot at that particular and ridiculous narrative, and hopefully putting it to bed for good now that people understand his roots.

It was about his mother, his grandparents, his childhood and his romance and marriage to Michelle. His work in the streets, eschewing a life on Wall Street or in a prestigious law firm. His career in the Illinois State Senate, where he made his first mark. It was a complete picture of the man Barack Obama, and then Senator, candidate and future President Obama walked onto the stage.

He hit McCain on everything. His ties to Bush, voting record, his temperament, (which I found to be particularly outstanding, as that is one of my bigger fears of a McCain presidency, the fact that that hothead is going to have his finger on the button), domestic policy, Katrina, everything. And the beauty of it all was it was not done in a petty way, or a cheap way, but in a calm, rational, respectful way, which always has more resonance than say, the Rush Limbaugh, battering you to dust style of politics.

It was a strong, tough speech, and it showed the fighter that Obama is, which should allay some fears about his perceived weaknesses against McCain's supposed strengths of judgment and leadership skills.

He hammered McCain on Iraq, Afghanistan and the War on Terror, saying, "John McCain said he would follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell, but he won't even follow him to the cave that he lives in." Wow.

Then there was the domestic issues, where he clearly defined every single major policy piece he is laying out. That was the major worry of many, that there was no details, but that cannot be said now.

There was a lofty promise as well, that the United States will not be dependent on oil from the Middle East within 10 years.

10 years! Amazing.

He also made it very, very clear that the ads McCain is running stating he is going to raise taxes on the middle class are completely false, stating flat-out that 95% of middle class families will get a tax cut, and under McCain, those cuts would go to corporations and oil companies. Great contrast.

Tax credits for hybrid vehicles, to the producers and the buyers. $150 billion into renewable energies like wind and solar power.

Most importantly, a vision for the future, not a continuation of the past.

And all on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech.

Even the most Republican of the CNN 'pundits' are lauding the speech. Alex Castellanos, who is a straight-up Republican street fighter, said that whomever didn't get chosen to be the Republican VP is "a lucky Republican". Whoa, THAT is some serious praise.

Do you really think John McCain is going to be able to compete with that one week from tonight? No way in hell. Word is he is still trying to give away tickets to his 10,000-strong VP announcement in Ohio tomorrow. The 75,000 tickets for this speech were gone within hours, and were actually being sold (The tickets were free by the way) on Craigslist for upwards of $1000/pair. I'd call that an enthusiasm gap.

Barack Obama inspires me like no other politician I have ever seen. I know I will be talking about him to my children and grandchildren the way people talk about Kennedy, and in Canada at least, Pierre Trudeau. In the video that kicked off Obama's time, there was a quote that I'm going to carry with me for a long time, that is going to define a lot of what I do with my life, and a lot of what Barack Obama has done with his.

"You see a situation, and you think, well that's not right, someone should change that. Then you realize that no one is going to change it unless you do."

Perfect.