020081004 00:20 • 
Entering a MUNI station in downtown San Francisco, I pass an Obama election swag table.
“Hey white boy!”
“...”
Big smile: “Are you voting for Obama?” He’s over 60, hair and beard sharp white on dark skin, several million mischievous twinkles in each eye.
I smile big in return: “Yes, I am! And what’s my being white have to do with it?”
“Nothing! But we…” hand pointing back and forth between himself and me, “...need more white boys to vote for Obama.” He hands me an Obama ‘08 button. I pin it to the strap of my Monome bag.
“Looks to me like there are plenty already.” I gesture down the line of people of all shapes, sizes, skin tones, genders and ages picking up Obama buttons, stickers and posters from the table. A majority of those present at the moment are Caucasian.
“Yes, but we need EVERYBODY to vote for Obama…. HEY! Asian boy!”
I love San Francisco.
020080319 01:37 •
As the connective element between all of us, words have power. As the conceptual framework we work within toward goals defined by the language we use to describe, contract and expand ourselves and everything else in relation, words are power.
Cynical words place us all in a frame of cynicism.
Empowering words create active hands.
Not once have I heard a living politician speak the way Barack Obama does in this video. Not once have I seen a living politician throw our accepted framework of political rhetoric aside the way Barack Obama does. Not once have I heard a living politician own the entire framework, both good and bad, as an existing point we all must work together to grow from.
Not once, before tonight, have I experienced a living politician running for the highest office of the land use old words in a new way.
After some sleep on this speech, and waking up feeling as though something wonderful is about to happen, I have a few more thoughts:
Obama is the only candidate to date who could give a speech like this. Given his diverse heritage and background, Obama is the only candidate who is actually representative of all concerned parties and of America itself.
Obama speaks to listeners with the assumption we are intelligent. This speech is not dumbed down to reach a presumed larger audience. He speaks as if he knows all his listeners are able to understand more than messages of fear, as if America is a nation of competent adults, not frightened children looking for a government to tell them everything is going to be fine.
No other candidate in the current election cycle can reach anywhere close to this kind of connection with the public. While McCain is busy pounding the fear of terrorists and Clinton is busy attempting to subvert super-delegate votes to triumph over the popular will, Obama began tackling a shared problem in America simply by speaking about it.
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