There was almost a little too much imagery.

Yes, he can pull off a really great speech, accompanied by the most technological tricks in the trade.

My question still remains:  what will he deliver, and how will he do it?

I also feel really sad that we are so compliant with the "advertising" mentality while election leaders that hold our world in their hands.

To me, Obama showed his ability to be a great actor, but I still don't have a clue how he's going to deliver those promises, based on his record of compromising on just about anything.

Call me a cynic.  I never used to be.  But the last 18 months leave me doubting just about anything being promised.  FISA, for example.

Why should I believe his truly stirring speech, or treat it as anything else as just another great speech given by him.

It really sounded great, but I'm somewhat jaded by now as to promises given vs. actions taken from our leaders.

Truly sorry about that.  I wish I felt better and could get behind the ticket, but all I hear is the  same-old same-old, no matter how glorified it is at any moment.

1. What was that with the music and the light show at the end? Cheesy.

2. Obama should not concede the sincerity of McCain's beliefs.  Not his patriotism.   But why give McCain the benefit of the doubt on "not having beliefs for political reasons"?  The man has no core principles! And McCain will not give him the benefit of the doubt.

3. Obama should not concede that McCain cares about ordinary people.  To paraphrase Forrest Gump: Caring is as caring does.  

4. The columns were really bad.

On the whole, I thought the speech was really good. I liked the serious, dramatic "Enough!" followed a few moments later with the snarkier "Eight is enough."

I liked that he went after McCain himself.  And I like that he questioned his judgment and temperament to be CinC and dared him to debate those issues with him.

I liked that he quoted Phil Gramm's "mental recession" and "nation of whiners" statements.

I like that he threw McCain's $5 million threshold for being rich back in his face.

It was a show. I felt like I was watching a pageant that was trying to sell me the most wonderful man in the world and frankly, it was all a bit surreal. Sometimes I think politics really has become nothing more than a show trying to sell us all a product that once bought can never live up to the hype. It's like buying "As Seen on TV!"

Congrats to all Democrats, and probably Independents too.

We should be proud to be Americans and had the opportunity to see Hillary and Obama come to this point where we are now.

Amazing.

I'm happy and will vote for Obama.

And I do like Joe Biden and how he wears his heart on his sleeve.

No thanks, BTD.  The time for us right now is for all of us to speak directly to each other, without the million dollar glory sets, the professional advisors, the corporations supporting this whole f****g parade of excessive tax-payer and our own donation spending on elaborate sets and speeches composed by those who are paying for them.

It reminds me of the TV Series ROME.  The more the empire got in trouble, the more money they spent on glamorous events such as we now see today.

My own signature line has, for a long time been "It doesn't take many words to speak the truth."  By Chife Joseph, Nec Perce

Well, I'm obviously out of the loop, but if we could just get back to speaking the truth without embellishments, we'd be a whole lot better off.

Whatever happened to speaking from out hearts without fear?  Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, has become so god-damn complicated as just plainly speaking your mind goes.  And, as far as I'm concerned, THAT is what will kill our American culture.  The inability to tell the truth without  having to jump through a hundred (or thousand) message-diluting hoops.

...all the while saying he was trying to turn a page on the 1990's...

...for the most part this speech is targeted at the voters that Hillary Clinton got...this rhetoric is extremely familiar to them...

...right down to Obama's pivot to "this election is about you"

I liked that he covered almost everything, appealing to all America.  I don't know if he can do what he states in re changing so much but I very much liked hearing it.

I like Joe Biden too. He is someone you would want to have a martini with,don't drink much beer, and talk about everyone in Washington plus I like his family.

I also liked that he toned it down.

I am not very enthused about no red or blue, no Dems or Repubs no indys. I like partisan politics.

But I think now that it was a good call. Much more level-headed, less emotional, more sober, less susceptible to criticism.

Obama hit every talking point the Republicans have raised against him.  He provided details.  He took on the utterly facile "maverick" issue.

He was elegant in his phrasing.  He referenced fundamental American principles.

Last I checked, the complaints on this site were that he hasn't done that.  So, he does.  and then I read he doesn't give a date for withdrawal from Iraq?  What do you want him to do in his nomination speech, give you a fscking schedule?  Specifically list all the non-essential government programs currently in the budget?

Worse, there's this awful criticism the he's talking about the same things.  OF COURSE he is.  How the hell else do you drive a message?  Do any of you have some new and innovative way that politicians and PR people haven't yet heard of?  Did you notice that every speech given by every major politician hit their main themes over and over?  HRC's speech mirrored the talking points of her campaign.  Bill's speech was great (as was HRC's), but he did what he always does...things were great when I was President, now they suck, it's the Republicans' fault, both the Republican administration and the Republicans in Congress, so elect the Democrat.

What is it you people want?  A cynic?  Elect me, and I'll throw my hands up and not try anything new?  Kennedy, Clinton, they both came in with the same essential reputation as Obama...young, inexperienced, dreamers, too optimistic.  They proved that drive matters.  They proved that a "movement" can take hold.  You commenters ought to think about the historical context...it's clear to me that most of the comments I've read really have their ground in personal dislike rather than in historical precedent or any sense of the possible.  That isn't a hallmark of Democratic, or as the current jargon goes, "progressive" (which we ought to stop using...the only reason it's being used is because "Democrat" and "liberal" were words demonized by the Republicans...take those words back, please) ideals.

Sorry, I'm just skeptical that he will do even 10% of what he claims without huge tax increases and that would be terrible now.  

My husband wanted to watch the speech but neither one of us were moved emotionally by it.  And, that's the point of an acceptance speech, to come away moved and motivated.

The laundry list is something we've heard every convention.  I still don't know what exactly Barack Obama would do as president.  He's for education.  Yay!  How?  More teacher pay?  National tests?  Charter schools?  Something new and different?  Nope.  Just the statement that he's for education.  

But after McCain's speech at his Convention, the real race with the ads, the debates, the campaign spin to buttress or refute the media spin, the unearthing of old garbage ... all of that will begin.

Obama will see a temporary uptick in fundraising, perhaps, but will still battle the experience question, especially in light of the laundry list of Change he proposed.  

And we seriously don't know what the Republicans have up their sleeves.  We assume, but we don't know.

Nina and Juan didn't like it.

Go Figure.

I was too busy watching the Commodores thump Miami (OH) to watch but I'll read it tomorrow.

I've noted some of the comments on ahem conservative blogs. One of the more striking is that the "content" of Senator Obama's "change" message (to the extent the content can be determined; no insult intended) seems to ascribe to government a very large role in sorting out the troubles and challenges of ordinary Americans.

I think that's probably right. Being as America remains, in my view, a laissez-faire nation of "doers", Senator Obama's "content" may not be the "content" Americans want. November will tell.

We shall see.

Though I didn't like the "friend of Georgia" nonsense or associating Afghanistan with those who attacked us on 9/11 -- and if he thinks we're going to save Afghanistan, he's a loon.  Afghanistan is as lost as Iraq is -- it was lost as soon as Iraq became a war.  And it ain't coming back the way we want.

I thought it would have been smarter and classier to flip his order of thanking the Clintons.  Hillary was his opponent in this election, he should have started with Bill and then talked about how Bill's speech was only topped by Hillary's.

These are small things, I'm picking nits in a way, but I still have this nagging fear, though I will certainly cast a vote for him, that he really won't be able to fight hard for a goal without utterly diluting it in the process.

I worry about his will to fight politically when he so clearly states he wishes a politician's fights WEREN'T political.

But, again, he's got my vote, it doesn't really matter.  What matters are those on the fence AND whether the election fraud that will UNDOUBTEDLY occur will be enough to defeat him -- since he made no mention of our elections being privatized affairs now, at the mercy of computer code we the people are not allowed to control, well, don't even start me on the nightmare I worry about.  You think the last two elections were stolen, they were only preludes, I fear, to an even bigger electoral fiasco.

I hope I am wrong.

Obama talks beautifully and movingly, but ultimately talk is cheap.  Where's the beef?  Where is the record of his accomplishments, not his talk? It isn't there because Obama has not had the time to accumulate it. He's been too busy running for president to build it up.  

His clarion call for action in Afghanistan bears little weight.  There are probably thousands of taxicab drivers and barber shop philosophers throughout the nation who have been not only vocal, but eloquent, on the need to take action in Afghanistan, but that does not qualify any of them to be president of the United States.

Moreover, when the chips were down, and he was called to his duty as a senator to chair his committee to hold hearings on Afghanistan, he blew them off to pursue his own personal ambition.  That dereliction of duty is indicative of Senator Obama's character.  It defines him, as all actions do.  It defines him as a man long on ambition, and short of a sense of duty.

BUT !?! "You don't defeat -- you don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in 80 countries by occupying Iraq. "

Obama imo contradicts himself with this statement..can one really defeat a terrorist network that operates in 80 countries by then ATTACKING and occupying
AFGANISTAN!?! (which by the way the soviets tried and failed miserably)

obviously not ..it is a law and order issue requiring a concerted effort by intelligence agecies across the world sharing reources and information and always has been...as has been proven by the steady arrests and capture of his agents across the world by law agencies in various countries and lest you argue that Al queda was restricted to Afganistan at that time and only grew in the interim that's not true and is easily proven .
Obama does the US and those us living in the region a great disservice when he beats these drums of war.

I am apalled to read here on THIS site (left..anti war!) democrats endorsing indeed cheering Obama on to "act" in Afganistan. The American people are being set up for aother war..and it is still about the oil!Afganistan (and Georgia too) are key in the entire race for Caspian oil.
http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1358
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav090306.shtml
http://www.usaid.gov/press/speeches/2005/ty050302_3.html
http://www.newhumanist.com/oil.html
google "Caspian oil pipelines"and you will come up with pages upon pages of articles detailing how pivotal Afganistan is in securing caspian oil

Indeed like in the movie Blood Diamond..thank god it's diamonds not oil!