As a jazzer I'm used to the rhythm of a gig.  You've got the slow piece, you've got the gal vocalist, you've got that solid piece that the experienced guy plays, and then you've got that last piece of the gig where the band lets loose and you cook.  Barack's speech last night was that cooking piece.  He pulled out the stops and wailed. 

He starts out with his historic acceptance, and then he, like any good musician, gives a shout out chorus in honor of his fellow musicians.  He didn't just say "thanks Hillary...thanks Bill...thanks Ted", he laid it on the line that they have the chops, and that he felt honored to be on the stage with them.  But politics is like one of those jazz nights where a new kid brings his horn up on the stage to challenge the old hands.  Barack has the chops too, and over the last year he showed what he has; last night he moved up to first chair.  Enough of the jazz metaphors...

As has become the pattern, Barack praised John McCain....and then went on to nail him.  That leads to the biggest challenge he's got: to get voters to follow the path.  Things went bad, very bad, under Bush.  McCain is right there in bed with Bush.  Go with McCain and you're going with Bush.  And if you do, don't be surprised when things don't get better.  How many ways from Sunday can Barack lay it out?  With the 84,000 in Denver he was preaching to the choir.  His big challenge is getting to those folks who aren't coming in to the service!

Pretty interesting VP announcement today, eh?  We've got a person who could be one heartbeat away from being president and who do they pick?   A person with zip experience on the world stage.  The GOP says that Barack's not experienced enough.  Compared to him, she's a rank amateur.  I can't wait until Joe Biden takes her on in the VP debate. 

Finally... I have got to say I cried during the Obama video that preceded his speech.  I was a teenager in the 60's.  I remember Dr. King's speech.  I remember the riots.  I remember hearing black men older than my father called "boy" by some punks little older than I was.  To see an African-American man being nominated for president of the US has given me more hope for the future than I've had in ages. 

We can't rest on this, though.  The hoary old quote "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing" applies.   Barack, and we, have won a battle.  We have not won the war.  Volunteer. Donate.  Be ready to talk about why Barack and Joe are the right men for the job. 

Next week my town, Saint Paul, will be hosting the Republican National Convention.  I wonder how many I can turn from the Evil Empire, the real Evil Empire, to the side that's going to bring the US out of the pit that Bush has landed us in.