"Individual Responsibility and Mutual Responsibility ..."

[Just Wondering]

With Barack Obama's acceptance speech tonight, he did at least two things: 1. He gave the best speech of the Convention, something I thought would be impossible to do based on how truly excellent so many other speeches were; and, 2. Barack Obama won me over completely. I found myself wanting to be at Mile High Stadium. Me. A woman who hates crowds. Me. A woman who has stated multiple times that this man was not my first pick. Ah, hell. Here I go again. In my head, I hear the strains of Elton John and Kiki Dee singing "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart." Well, at least this fool didn't exactly rush in this time ...
Obama learned how to fight by fighting with Hillary Clinton. She made him better. As he learns from Joe Biden, he will become even better. Together, Obama and Clinton made all of us better, at least those of us who were willing to follow the example they each tried to set. Neither candidate was perfect - they both strayed from the high road now and again (and I know they did because I, a disgruntled Joe Biden supporter, watched them both do it), but neither could be said to be responsible for the bad and worst behavior by their respective supporters, although the candidates themselves were blamed. Neither advocated the kind of comments I read on comment threads on blog after blog - the comment threads that are still spewing disdain and outright hatred as I type this post. Well, that's water under the bridge now, a bridge too far for some, I guess.

Onward.
Speeches are just words, I know. But so are poems. Words used well, and with conviction, have inspired me all my life. I was inspired tonight. Here is just one excerpt from Barack's speech that spoke to me:

America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose - our sense of higher purpose. And that's what we have to restore. We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.
I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. 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. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. 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.
And you know what - it's worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.
I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.
But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you.

Whatever gutter the RNC jumps into next week is only going to look filthier and lower now. I truly wonder whether John McCain could fill a stadium with over 70,000 people with the kind of enthusiasm we saw at Mile High tonight. I wonder whether he'll try.

[Just Wondering]

Apologies for the typo, Kimber!

[Just Wondering]

Amen, Pamela Lyn. I'd just like to get a little break in the action, though. It's hard to keep up with illegal wars, domestic spying, a politicized DOJ, a war on science, cronyism, corruption, abuse of power, retroactive immunity (?), downright incompetence and the list goes on ... but at least there's no illicit sex going on in the White House ... yeesh.

[Pamela Lyn]

Without a doubt, no matter who is elected we, as citizens, always have to keep up the pressure and hold them accountable.

One of the reasons that the Bush administration was able to get away with so much is because many of his supporters, especially those in the evangelical community believed that he was "the Christian president" or "God's chosen president". Based on that belief, so many people turned a blind eye to torture, extraordinary rendition, spying on Americans' email and phone calls and much more.

Going forward we, who support Barack Obama, cannot afford to make that same mistake.

[Just Wondering]

Kinber, the pundits were as infuriating as ever - thank God for C-span. But if you think the facts and a good argument can silence their stupid and constant "spin," I fear you're mistaken. Thank God for the modern-day pamphleteers (of which you are one!).
Nancy, more power to you. I hope that people like you and I will have far more influence with an Obama administration than we have had the past 8 years. And I already know John McCain is deaf to our concerns. To McCain, war is the answer - it doesn't matter what the question is.

[Nancy Hill]

I'm won over too, but that doesn't mean I won't apply pressure, influence, what ever I have and can use to press for peace rather than war spending, preparations, funding and waging. :)

[Kimber Caldwell]

I've been listening how the pundits have been saying no one was taking on McCain and how there was no theme...

I think Barack Obama silenced that!

My favorite, as always, was Michelle! But she even left room for her husband to shine!

[Just Wondering]

Thanks, Pamela Lyn. I think Democrats should be proud. Our best and brightest were on display all week.

[Pamela Lyn]

Great post. Obama wasn't my first pick either. But I think that's the power of his campaign to win over people by his position on the issues and the quality of his character