Barack Obama is offering the laundry list everyone has been asking for, a list that includes small-business and middle-class tax cuts, an end to energy dependence, a promise to protect Social Security, equal pay for equal work and an end to the war and America’s isolation from the rest of the world.
It is a moderate agenda , with some progressive elements, and a few red flags that worry me. Most notably, Obama’s strong position on the environment — higher fuel-efficiency standards, alternative fuels, solar and wind power, investment in efficiency and subsidies to help working people afford cleaner cars — is tempered by a commitment to nuclear power.
But the speech is long on the notion of “American promise” — the idea that we are in this together, that there are larger ideas that drive us, that people matter. I am not the best one to gauge it — my cynicism is tempered by a wish for change and a deep progressive streak — but I truly believe this speech will resonate among the uncommitted.
“This election has never been about me,” he said “It’s about you.”
Change. Change — think of Dylan’s “Times They Are A-Changin'” — a song about a moment in time, or another of his songs, “Blowin’ in the Wind,” which hits many of the same notes.
The speech and the packed house is a reminder of the massive turnout during the primaries — just as McCain’s difficulty in drawing crowds is a reminder of the lower turnout for the Republican primaries.
Hank Kalet 