Fired Up Obama Addresses Virginia Crowd

In the following video, Obama addresses cheering crowds of Virginians in Richmond Saturday night, after sweeping Tennessee, Washington, and Louisiana. This is a great speech, Obama really gets fired up and demonstrates why so many of us have put our hope in him.

Obama 2008

On the eve of super Tuesday, I must confess that I have forgone my former support of Senator Clinton and now find myself championing Obama. Granted, I still support Hillary and believe in much of her agenda, but her shortcomings on the character front have become very difficult to ignore, and will clearly handicap her in a bid for the White House. At the end of the day, I want to see a Democrat in the office, so it is pure pragmatism!

Besides, what's not to like about Obama? Other than his halting speech in debates, which appears to be more a delivery style than an indication of clouded thinking. He does make sense, although I often struggle to follow him on key points. BUT, at the end of the day I find myself really trusting Barack, and believing in his sincerity and depth of character. Also, his positions have shown increasing depth, allaying some early concerns that I have had about his lack of experience and poorly define positions.

Policy differences between Clinton and Obama are not as dramatic as they would have you believe, which in the end leads me to the candidate with a fresh face, optimism, and sincerity. I hope to see him take the majority of states tomorrow night, and fully expect that will happen. I am also thrilled to see McCain will likely by the Republican nominee (even though I predicted Romney some months ago), as he is the most progressive Republican in the race and also shows a depth of character often lacking in politics. This election it may be the "better of two good options" instead of the "lesser of two evils."

Here is a graph showing the huge bounce Obama received after his strong showing in South Carolina and Edwards subsequent departure.

From realclearpolitics.com
Click on image to enlarge