What a week it’s been if you care about American politics. The Democrats ran a mile wide love fest in the Mile High City which had me tuning in to CNN for four nights in a row. Each speech was a little better than the last and then when all the newspaper’s had Obama’s historic moment on Friday’s front page, those cheeky strategic Republican bastards knocked it right into the back pages by announcing Sarah Palin (who?) as the VP choice. Whoa! Oh baby, what a week…
On Thursday night, in front of 80k plus who turned out on a better summer night, the words, “America we are better than these last eights years. We are a better country than this. Tonight I say to the people of America, to the Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this land ENOUGH. This moment, this moment, this election, is our chance to keep in the 21st century the American promise alive,” rang out in the Rockies. It was powerful, it was necessary and it was motivating.
Two co-workers watched a stream of Barack’s speech yesterda, one at work and one after, and both basically said to me “Fuck that was a good speech.” I am now re-listening to Barack’s 42 min totally kick ass speech and cannot wait until September 26th when he debates John McCain for the first time. I think he’ll clean McCain’s clock and when you see the two of them side by side, oh baby, what a difference. It’ll be Kennedy versus Nixon all over again.
In the speech, Obama impressively rebutted point by point all of the arguments that have been lobbed against his candidacy. He was specific about his domestic programs and how he would fund what he wants to do. He was specific about the current state of foreign affairs and clearly laid out the case for he can be a great Commander in Chief and why he should be President. He laid out a ten year challenge a la Kennedy for energy independence. He mentioned nuclear power, which many dismiss as a horror but in actuality is one of the best green options on the table. He was precise, like a surgeon, with his concerns about McCain and soaring with his rhetoric about what this country can be. Once again, I’m inspired and if you didn’t listen to the speech, find the time and do so.
In the end, this election is simply a battle between the present and the future. Barack, despite his VP Biden being a 35 veteran in the Senate, is the future. The Grateful Dead’s “The Wheel” is one of favorite songs right now and its lyrics are apt for the situation we are in:

The wheel is turning and you can’t slow down
You can’t let go and you can’t hold on
You can’t go back and you can’t stand still
If the thunder don’t get you then the lightning will

I feel as if the Republicans are either ignoring or trying to stop that the great big wheel from turning but our nation’s debt keeps rising, the Earth’s sea levels are rising, the troubles in Afghanistan keep rising, the East’s power again is rising and we can’t go back, we can’t stand still: we are in the 21st Century and we need to keep moving forward. I think that Barack can lead the way.