In his acceptance speech, Barack Obama put aside the poetry, took off the gloves and threw down the gauntlet for John McCain–reminding even those who have been observing him closely that, behind the charisma, is a steely politician determined to win an election.
“If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next commander in chief,” Obama said, “that’s a debate I’m ready to have.
“For while Sen. McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats that we face. When John McCain said we could just ‘muddle through’ in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. You know, John McCain likes to say that he’ll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell–but he won’t even go to the cave where he lives.”
Critics will carp about the lack of well-turned phrases in tonight’s address, but the candidate was clearly not looking to replicate Martin Luther King’s eloquence of 45 years ago but to turn “I have a dream” into the reality of wide-awake political power.
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