That's the goal of this whole American experiment: that a political campaign can raise issues which actually matter to the people who live in a particular society, and that by giving voice to competing arguments, candidates put forth reasoned alternatives and then the people can select out of the marketplace of ideas the one they prefer. When is the last time that a 45-minute speech actually mattered - that an issue was raised and discussed ... by adults? The Clintons and the Limbaughs and the entire right wing conspiracy can continue the red herrings and slimy insinuations and guilt by association to try to drag Obama down to their scorched-earth level, but imagine if the old scare tactics and demagoguery somehow ... stop working. Imagine that the electorate finally dummies up and realizes that they've been divided, sliced and diced, and played for sheep time and time again, with nothing to show for it but televised fantasies of striking it rich while they have no realistic hope of ever climbing to the highest tax bracket and instead are stuck with the bail-out bill while the wealthy retreat to their yachts and private jets and gated communities. The Simpsons is the longest running sitcom in television history and the millions who've kept it on the air have learned a thing or two about hypocrisy and smokescreens and self-serving excuses - and watching the Bush Fiasco for seven years and counting has been a continuing education in the disintegration of seemingly valid sound-bites, justifications and fantasies dressed up as reality. Maybe enough of us have finally stopped giving into the pretense and are ready to call the bullshit for what it is. Even if Obama doesn't win, his campaign will be a victory for common sense and good old American skepticism. And if he does win, we can collectively bury the Baby Boomers and their tired, selfish squabbling and start to repair the damage that they and their parents' generation have done to this country and this earth.

I understand completely that halting sense of skepticism one can get when witnessing something so uncommonly genuine and intelligent in American presidential politics. Certainly, much evidence exists that the "average" American voter is often driven by tribal, anti-intellectual, strobing impulses. One need only look to Fox News and several other neoconservative media outlets to see the infamous "lizard brain" on horrid display, and this can indeed give even the most optimistic some pause.

However, for many, many reasons, I think Obama's gambit will succeed. I believe it will succeed not only despite the reflexive and visceral tendencies of the common voter, but in part because of it. This dynamic starts with the cold and opaque machinery of the party leadership.

This speech, as you point out, has resonated very strongly with the (non-right-wing) intelligentsia and the political class. It has people like Chris Matthews swooning. It has many DC professionals, including me, walking on the clouds of its pure, honest, and thoughtful brushstrokes. The babblings of approval from (most of) the media elite can be read like a diviner's casting bones to glimpse into the hearts and minds of the silently sought Superdelegates that hold the power to annoint Obama the nominee. A very telling canary in the cage of this latest development is Joe Biden, who had very kind words to say about a speech on which he had no need to comment in the first place.

So I agree in part with Retired Military Patriot that this speech - whether by design or accident - will be precisely the gravitational force that draws superdelegates further into Obama's orbit. And while some of those superdelegates may continue to hold their cards close to their vests late into spring, I believe that Obama won their hearts tonight, and it will take a miracle or a calamity for Hillary to swoon them to her side now. For Obama's speech demonstrated to the Nobility at least two critical attributes: he showed not only that he can turn a snarling, unthinking Cerberus of political tumult into an opportunity for dialogue on the very themes that undergird his person, but that he can do it in a strikingly candid and impressively balanced way.

Consequently, the political leadership having largely applauded Obama's A More Perfect Union, the media churning out memes of the power of his words and message, and the intelligentsia gravitating invisibly yet palpably toward his beacon, I believe the populace will sense a familiar swell, and will be pulled back in by the gravity of their instincts.

This is because although Obama didn't pander, he struck chords that lie in every American's lives and experiences, and he earned the legitimacy of the only voices given license to approve him as "safe" once again. It doesn't have to happen in overwhelming numbers. It only has to happen in enough numbers to tilt the critical mass, to trigger the invisible logarithm of mass spirit and historical moment.

And it will.

... or talking head that says anything like, "Did Obama do enough to distance himself from Wright?" probably didn't understand a single word Obama said, and should henceforth and for life be shunned from any and all Beltway cocktail parties. Which, of course, will make Oscar Mayer stock drop like a rock....

Cheers,

It's so refreshing, isn't it? The first thing I liked about Obama was the fact that he could actually think and argue on his feet, as opposed to...well, practically everyone else in the Democratic party. Lately I'd been going through primary fatigue because of the intramural Dem sniping and queasiness at the prospect of voting for a candidate endorsed by Andrew Sullivan. But this speech reminded of who the man is--he's someone who doesn't speak to us as if we were all fourth graders. He doesn't oversimplify and candy-coat. When I listen to him I can almost believe that America might pull its head out of its butt.

I'm sure they will push back. I just not sure if it will work.

Look we are both on the same side here but I'm not someone who thinks that Obama can do no wrong, and lash out at anything or anyone who has doubts about his viability.

Aycharaych reminded me what they did to Max Cleland, I'd forgotten that one.

Humour me, what is the push back to the scenario I described above.