Truespeak

If you watched the Democratic Convention last night you saw the future of our party. Barack Obama delivered the speech of the night. Possibly the speech of the future.

"The people I meet--in small towns and big cities, in diners and office parks --they don't expect government to solve all their problems. They know they have to work hard to get ahead--and they want to. ... They don't want their tax money wasted, by a welfare agency or the Pentagon."
.....
"Go into any inner-city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone can't teach kids to learn--they know that parents have to parent, that children can't achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white," he said.

This was one of the most powerful speeches I have ever heard. It was optimistic, it was inspiring, and it was delivered with a sincerity that we don't often see these days. Even Tucker Carlson had to agree it was pretty impressive.

In my opinion, this is the direction of the new Democratic Party. With Bill Clinton, we became complacent, docile. Honestly, did you really think Al Gore was going to lose in 2000? I didn't. I don't think a lot of us did. We quit fighting for the things that got Bill Clinton elected and we rested on our laurels. We got fat, we got lazy, and we got weak. (If you need evidence, just look at the 2002 congressional election.)

We're getting strong again. Barrack Obama is the example. He is going to be one of the leaders of the new Democrats. Revitalized, optimistic, energetic, and inspirational. We will take this country back and it will again be a better place.

UPDATE: Read a transcript of his speech here. It's worth it.

John Kerry believes in America. And he knows that it's not enough for just some of us to prosper. For alongside our famous individualism, there's another ingredient in the American saga. A belief that we are all connected as one people.

If there's a child on the South Side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my child.

If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for their prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandparent.

If there's an Arab-American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties.

It is that fundamental belief -- it is that fundamental belief -- I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper -- that makes this country work.

It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. "E pluribus unum." Out of many, one.