"This was the moment..."

I think it behooves us as Democrats and Americans to reflect on the meaning and impact of Barack Obama's speech last night in St. Paul.

Hillary Clinton has oft belittled Obama's political bona fides as consisting of the talent to make speeches.

I would submit that that is no small thing. Sure, one can twist arms, make deals and play hardball in the back rooms, but that doesn't mobilize the people. The ability to do that comes from inspiring rhetoric. FDR, Churchill and JFK knew that.

Last February I wrote:

Obama may sometimes seem to be leading a tent revival meeting, but in a strange way he's taking a leaf from Bush's playbook. Unless pressed, he's airily short on details in order to focus on what Americans like most: to feel good and virtuous about themselves. Season that with some Camelot sentimentality, and you've got the recipe for electoral success.

Americans are suckers for Hope. "It's morning in America!" Obama understands what many Dems don't. This shit works. We want to believe.

Bill Clinton understood it; that's why his '92 campaign dug up the video of young Bill shaking JFK's hand and waxed lyrical about "A Man from a Place Called Hope."

Obama is a master at rousing his audience's emotions. Witness his victory speech on Tuesday night. He painted a vision of America the Good and swept his listeners there on a magic carpet ride.

And though I voted for Hillary in the primary, I am convinced that Obama has a better chance of winning against McCain in November. Picture the contrast between them: Obama, young and vibrant, exhorting us to answer the better angels in our nature; McCain, old and pinched, promising a Hundred Years of War and, by the way, the jobs ain't coming back.

Last night, Obama was generous in victory. He was an American leader. And he was leaving Clinton in a dusty past as the meaning and emotion of his words reached a crescendo:

And every so often, there are moments which call on that fundamental goodness to make this country great again.

So it was for that band of patriots who declared in a Philadelphia hall the formation of a more perfect union, and for all those who gave on the fields of Gettysburg and Antietam their last full measure of devotion to save that same union.

So it was for the greatest generation that conquered fear itself, and liberated a continent from tyranny, and made this country home to untold opportunity and prosperity.

So it was for the workers who stood out on the picket lines, the women who shattered glass ceilings, the children who braved a Selma bridge for freedom's cause.

So it has been for every generation that faced down the greatest challenges and the most improbable odds to leave their children a world that's better and kinder and more just.

And so it must be for us. 

America, this is our moment. This is our time, our time to turn the page on the policies of the past...

... our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face, our time to offer a new direction for this country that we love.

The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge -- I face this challenge with profound humility and knowledge of my own limitations, but I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people.

Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that, generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless... 

... this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal... 

... this was the moment when we ended a war, and secured our nation, and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. 

This was the moment, this was the time when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals.

Thank you, Minnesota. God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

It simple, actually. Clinton kept telling us how she would fight for us. Obama tells us that we have the power to fight for change ourselves.

More than anything, this reminds me of JFK's "Ask not what your country can do for you..." speech. I'm old enough to remember JFK's campaign and brief presidency. I saw him at a rally on Kings Highway in Brooklyn, in front of the old Dubrow's Cafeteria by the elevated subway station at East 16th St. I remember the thrill of his Inaugural speech. I wanted more than anything to join the Peace Corps when I came of age. Then I'd apply to become an astronaut because we were going to the moon! I think our best hopes and aspirations as Americans were blighted with Kennedy's death. For the first time in forty-eight years, I feel that same fresh breeze across the political landscape.

It doesn't matter if Obama is not the perfect vessel for our hopes and ideals. Neither were JFK or FDR, as we learned long afterward. What matters is that these flawed politicians speak to our hearts as well as our minds.

I'm a pretty cynical old curmudgeon. I hate emotional manipulation. Perhaps Obama is a false prophet and the same old thing in a shiny new package. But I would like to believe that this is our moment. If not now, then when? If not Obama, then who? McCain?