Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech

I've watched Obama's acceptance speech twice now. Wow. Incredible. There are so many things about it that I love that I know I'll miss some of them when I write here.

First of all, I am so glad I witnessed and shared this moment, this crystal-clear moment, this turning point in history, when an African American accepted the nomination for president. Amazing. It was a "remember when" moment. As a local candidate says regularly, "It's a good day to be a democrat." Indeed it is. It is a day to be PROUD to be a democrat.

Regardless of who was accepting tonight, it was going to be historic - due to gender or race. Democrats, everywhere, give yourselves a pat on the back for breaking stereotypes and looking at the credentials of those running instead of their personal details. It's not a surprise to me that it is Democrats offering these milestones instead of Republicans.

As you may remember I was a Hillary supporter until the night it was obvious Obama had the numbers on his side. At that moment I became an Obama supporter - and a wholehearted one. I've always liked him, but I just thought she had a better chance of winning. I was worried that we were not ready as a nation to elect a black man - a sentiment given to me by an older African American woman I know and respect here. The first time I heard her say it I thought surely she must be wrong, but the more I heard racist comments from people I started to think she might be right. But, I think we're ready to elect THIS man, regardless of his color. I hope so. And, ultimately, isn't that what we want, to elect the person, regardless of race? Of course it is. I just hope enough voters share that thought. He certainly gave people many reasons to vote for him tonight.

His speech hit so many points that appeal to me - everything from health care and education to rights for GLBT. And I love the fact that he put McCain's camp on notice that he's not going to just roll over and play dead and take whatever they dish out, that he's going to fight. Democrats are so ready for someone who will fight. I love it that he called out McCain and Bush and didn't mince words doing it. As a party we are so overdue for someone who will fight and get dirty if they have to. I hope that's not necessary. But if others are dragging you through the mud you 're going to be dirty so you might as well jump on in and get it over with.

I like that he offered specifics. I like that he mentioned how he would raise money for his programs. I like it that he served notice, while respecting McCain and his service to the country. I like the idea that we could be off of foreign oil within 10 years.

I know some of the excitement will fade over the days. I was on twitter with other folks and it was interesting to see that some people who were not big supporters when he started were by the end of it.

There were more than 70,000 people there to see him tonight. They're having a hard time filling a venue of 10,000 for McCain's announcement of his VP. I'm sorry I didn't see a shot of Hillary tonight, although I heard them say she was there. I don't know if Bill was there or not, but it would have been nice to see a reaction shot of them when Obama mentioned them

I'm just really happy right now. I have a feeling Obama will not roll over at the first sign of trouble. Thank goodness. This democrat has grown very tired of that.

I'm eager to see what happens over the next few days.

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