A Debate I'm Willing to Have: OBAMA's Moment and More From the DNC~!

Wow, these are crazy times. I'm loving it. It sounds cheesy but you can't help but be inspired. Even browsing my friends' Facebook status updates, to see the number of people, people in their twenties, to see them inspired and ready for change - it's a great feeling. For those who aren't finding themselves invested, I don't get it. I really don't. Because at some point this evening while at work, I looked at the clock and realized that I had to get home, I had to turn on the TV, I had to be a part of this moment in history to the extent that I could. If you didn't feel that compulsion, didn't feel that urgency, I don't get it. It's been an amazing few days watching the DNC unfold in spectacular fashion. Last night Bill Clinton brought his A-game and drove home why exactly America needed to get back on track and why Obama was the man to right the course. Joe Biden got on stage and put his heart on his sleeve, telling his own story of trial and tribulation and tempering his righteous anger with the ray of hope that Obama had ignited. Today, Al Gore gave one more reality check in the face of a Republican party that has based so much of its policy on lies and attempts to ignore a great many "inconvenient truths." And then there was the capper - Barack Obama's climactic address, surrounded by thousands of supporters in Mile High Stadium and with a nation watching, still trying to figure out if this guy was still indeed the man for the job that had become and embarassment under eight years of George W. Bush's incompetency. 

The speech more than lived up to the hype, and was the crown jewel of a DNC that for three days produced one barn-burner after another. Whatever your political orientation, you simply had to feel the historic significance of Barack Obama's speech tonight, where the stars finally aligned and the reality of this moment finally hit. It was anger mixed with hope, optimism mixed with pragmatism, thoughtfulness mixed with emotion. 

Obama's speech tonight really was a great piece of work. It presented a platform in very real terms, and at the same time cut right into McCain in a way that he might not be able to recover from. Obama boxed in McCain on so many fronts that I'm now completely curious as to what the Republican response is. Sure, McCain can trot out notions of experience and readiness to lead. But on the ISSUES ... on the issues - what platform does McCain have to stand on? Again, I don't get it. I really, truly don't. 

I ask any Republican to explain to me how they are on the right side of the issues. On climate change, on the war in Iraq and the War on Terror. On the economy, health care, education, on foreign policy. Every one of these BIG issues is completely compromised on the Republican side of the fence because time and time again, the Republicans find themselves beholden to the special interest, interests who represent a small minority-elite, and NOT the best interests of the American people. I'm talking about the Oil Companies, the Pharmaceutical Companies, the Religious Right. We can't afford to give in to those people's narrow-minded interests. We can't go to war for them. We can't deny people health care because of them. We can't continue to discriminate because of them.

But again, Obama's speech not only hit on these points, but did something brilliant in that towards the end of the speech, Obama plainly said: on some issues, there may be differences, but we can all agree on certain basic tenets. The implication was clear: the divisiveness of Karl Rove-ian politics is based on a fictional rift to a large degree. Everything isn't either-or - there's no reason to let disagreements obstruct the basic and logical progress we can all agree on. Obama made it clear, there are big issues at stake in this campaign, and nobody is really in the mood for arguments over small things. Obama is going to be challenged by McCain, no doubt - but he made it clear that he will not live or die on the gaffes, the swiftboating, the minor tabloid garbage. 

And speaking of Rove-ian politics, it was great to see Obama hit back on McCain's ridiculous series of Swiftboating ads. In one fell swoop, Obama shot down the idea that he is a pampered "celebrity." In one fell swoop, Obama spelled out the true nature of the misguided War In Iraq in a way that John Kerry could never quite nail down. It's amazing to me that anyone might still equate Iraq with the events of September 11th, 2001. When Obama called out McCain on saying he wants to follow Bin Laden straight into hell, but not into his own cave - that right there just about summed it up. For eight years, McCain, Bush, and the Republicans have been about false bluster and bravado and war-mongering - at the expense of intelligence, strategy, and sober consideration of the REAL way to tackle the foreign policy challenges of a post-9/11 world. I loved that Obama evoked the toughness of the Democratic party, and the ability of an Obama presidency to protect our country. For years there's been this idea that Bush and the Republicans were the tough ones. But what came of their toughness? Failed policy in Iran. Bin Laden still at large. Zero progress on working with a developing China. Little progress on North Korea. Failure to work with a rising India. Failure to deal with genocide in Darfur and hunger in Africa. Mission Accomplished = are you freakin' kidding me. I have every confidence that an Obama-Biden White House will be tough when called upon, but in other situations will RESTORE America's place in the world which Bush has done all he can to diminish. With one strong word, Obama echoed the frustration of millions: "ENOUGH!"

Obama's speech tonight was a spectacle, but it also, as Keith Olbermann has pointed out, contained 29 separate policy points. It was a speech that left Pat Buchanan of all people gushing with praise. It was a speech that evoked Martin Luthor King Jr. but, as Jesse Jackson said - this was not MLK Part Two - this was Barack Obama Part One. I'm psyched, I'm pumped, I'm ready for a Barack Obama presidency. I'm proud when I see all the people, all the Americans, who are with me on this and "get it." Because like Obama said, I don't know if McCain does. 

It's gratifying too, because when I first declared my support for Obama many months ago, before he was even a declared candidate for President, I got a lot of dismissals and funny looks. When my dad became a supporter, a lot of the more traditional Democratic element raised an eyebrow or two, still thinking that Obama as a candidate was nothing if not a longshot. They didn't get that this was a new moment that called for change. And I remember having dinner with my rather conservative great uncle and his even more conservative friends several months ago. They were in disbelief that not only did I support Obama, but that I really did think he could go all the way to the White House. They were still living in a world where an African-American could never be President, where the idea of a middle class white kid from Suburbia supporting Barack Obama seemed almost comical. Well, it's quite gratifying to know now that that old world that those old folks lived in is shattered and gone. For the young and the young at heart, for those of any age who still believe that the best is still around the corner and that we can't ever settle for how things were or how things are ... this is a brave new world. One that we're grateful to be a part of and one that we want to actively contribute to.

And I hate to say it, but because I'm speaking to my peer group I will - if you're not engaged and into it at this stage of the game, I honestly feel sorry for you. Because it plain and simply shows a failure to recognize the moment in history that we as a nation are approaching. It's time to tune in, to be a part of the process. In Al Gore's speech today, he had a great line about how right now, the race between Obama and McCain was close. But among young people, it was not even a contest. We don't fear change, we don't cling to fear, and we're ready to take a risk on the unknown. And if that isn't what America is all about, then I don't know what it is.