I was there a couple of weeks ago when Barack Obama made his first big campaign swing through Ohio – me and more than 1,000 other people at the Westin in the Presidential Ballroom – how prophetically named.
Such a comfortable, happy and upbeat crowd. A mix of every color, age and gender from my glances around the room. A mixed crowd of speakers before The Candidate appeared. When he appeared, he was smart, confident, upbeat – talking up to us. Not down. Encouraging us as a people to be better, to try for more, to risk and sacrifice more.
A teacher at heart, leading us through his thinking on major issues like Iraq – which he has been right on from the beginning, though he was only a State Senator in Illinois at the time. Issues like education, health, the budget.
Good, firm, solid ideas on health care. He has specific plans, which will get even more specific – amazing to me that people talk about his lack of plans and of experience – on the streets of Jakarta and on the streets of Chicago, he learned more than most of Washington will ever know.
He know what needs to be done, and is calling us to the task. Experience and wisdom – just what America needs. We are blessed that he is willing to put himself into the race.