Ian Boyne, Contributor

On Thursday night, before an estimated 85,000 screaming fans, United States senator, Barack Obama, delivered his lethal acceptance speech before the Democratic National Convention, in what could be described as a Category Five hurricane which ripped into the GOP.

Barack Obama surgically and seamlessly tore apart all the major criticisms of his campaign and marketed himself as the more responsible, more level-headed, and more trustworthy of the presidential candidates facing the American people. For those who said he only spoke in generalities on the economy, he had specifics. For those who doubted whether he could be tough on terror, he showed that he would be more focused on the real centre of the war on terror, Afghanistan, and more savvy about emerging threats, such as those coming from Russia.

Perhaps no better gauge of how well Obama did in that speech could be gleaned than that which, stunningly, came from the lips of one of America's most influential neo-conservative intellectuals, Bill Kristol, of the leading right-wing publication The Weekly Standard. On Fox News, the bastion of right-wing opinion in American Big Media, Kristol shocked fellow conservative commentators who had started slamming into the speech by stating that it had exceeded expectations; that Obama dealt persuasively with all the major criticisms of him and that, essentially, the Republican Party had much to answer for in that speech.

Memorable week

It had been a memorable week in Denver, Colorado, where the convention was held. The Clintons were like rock stars and by everyone's account they thoroughly thrilled the audience. They had one main task: To ensure that the sizeable minority of democratic voters who were hesitant to vote for Obama and who had indicated that they would vote for McCain would come on board the Obama Ship, which was sailing with the hopes of so many Americans.

In an example that should be salutary to the People's National Party, wracked by its own nasty internal leadership fight, the Democratic Party this week demonstrated to the world that they could unite around one leader, even after hard-fought and bitter primaries.

Both Hillary and Bill said the right words and the polls showed a bounce for the Democratic Party after their speeches, clear empirical evidence that the speeches worked. Joe Biden proved himself the experienced politician and foreign-policy guru he is; a necessary marketing because of the GOP's criticism of Obama's lack of experience (which was widely shared by the Clinton campaign, too). Biden, a usually tough-talking, unconventional politician known for his advocacy of people's issues and his attack on the Washington establishment, took on John McCain forcefully, though respectfully.

'Barakopolis'

The strategists of the Democratic Party could justifiably leave Denver feeling accomplished last week. They had proved that they could fill a giant stadium (dubbed by the McCain campaign the 'Barakopolis' because of its architectural design); that they could script the right kind of narrative appealing to working and middle-class America - a narrative involving love and loyalty to family, country and to the American Promise and the American Dream. They have marketed their presidential candidate as a man who is not just a black candidate, but every bit an American; indeed, the quintessential American; a man whose life mirrors the life of ordinary Americans; a Horatio Alger hero; the 'boy next door' who simply worked hard, believed in the American Dream and achieved it. It was a brilliant political and commutations strategy displayed for all to learn from.

Obama's promise to cut taxes for 95 per cent of the American people is a major selling card, as Bill Kristol himself acknowledged; something hard for the McCain campaign to match.

Indeed, the Obama campaign has positioned itself, contrary to its stereotype as being outside American values, as very much being part of a renaissance of American values; representing a movement to recapture Washington for the people, taking it away from the big corporations and the lobbyists. When the political history of the epoch-making candidacy of Barack Obama is written, it will be seen just how masterly it was all planned and executed. It is the stuff of which historians and political scientists salivate.

An enigmatic man to many, a paradox wrapped inside of a mystery some would say, Barack Obama deliberately escapes pigeon-holing. In the words of Obama himself, "I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views," as Time magazine in a cover story in its latest issue quotes him as saying.

Continues Time with the quotation: "I was always suspicious of dogma and excesses of the left and the right."

In an article in the September 10, 2008, issue of the New Republic, adviser Cass Sunstein says in an article titled 'The Empiricist Strikes Back': "One of his most distinctive features is that he is a minimalist, - because he prefers solutions that can be accepted by people with a wide variety of theoretical inclinations - (he is) someone who attempts to accommodate rather than to repudiate the defining beliefs of most Americans."

He is pro-choice but pleads with pro-life people to join him in campaigning against unwanted pregnancies. He is for certain gay rights but parades the nuclear family as the ideal and speaks strongly about his Christian faith. He speaks up for the poor and middle classes who have been abandoned by Washington, but also knocks irresponsibility and parental neglect among black families.

Some liberals and people on the left believe that he has conceded too much to reach this far and that he is no spook who sat at the door and that his presence in the White House won't mean any meaningful change for the poor and marginalised.

But they will have to tell us how one wins such a wide cross section of support to reach the White House and to be able to effect change without appealing to all interests and building a broad coalition. Writing in the September 1 edition of the highly regarded left-leaning magazine the Nation ('Progressives in the Obama Moment'), Robert Borasage and Katrina Vanden Heuvel say, Progressives should start thinking now about the strategy for an Obama presidency.

Energy and idealism

"Clearly his election and inauguration would mark an exciting moment. At home, a new sense of energy and idealism will be unleashed. Across the world his election will begin the process of restoring America's ravaged reputation."

In the leftist magazine, In These Times, David Moberg in an article titled 'Moving Obama Left' says, "Obama has not made a dramatic shift to the centre. He has always been more centrist, cautious and compromising, than many of his supporters - and critics - have wanted to admit."

But whatever is said, he clearly has the ears of many Americans, black and white, and the issues he has championed resonate.

Last year, 4.4 million more Americans joined the poverty line and the median income of non-elderly households was $1,100 lower than the year before. Nearly six million more Americans were uninsured in 2007 than in 2001 - a recession year.

Fundamentally sound

America now has the greatest concentration of wealth in the richest one per cent than at any time since 1928. The economy has expanded, but the growth has not trickled down to the working and middle classes significantly. Last year, some 46 million Americans did not have health insurance in the wealthiest country in the world.

While John McCain is saying the economy is "fundamentally sound" and has voted with the Bush policies approximately 95 per cent of the time, the Obama campaign has latched on to that to show that a vote for him would be a vote for eight more years of Bush.

In recent polls, about 80 per cent of respondents say the economy is in bad shape, and an alarming 70 per cent say it is going to get worse if things continue as under Bush. Obama is saying let's change things, and millions young voters are signing on. People who were formerly disenchanted with politics are hoping again, It's morning in America again, as Ronald Reagan would say.

McCain's appointment of a female vice-presidential running mate, younger than Barack Obama with a record of willingness to take on big companies, shows that the Obama campaign is stinging. His shock announcement on his 72nd birthday on Friday shows a kind of desperation and last-minute attempt to become relevant to the real concerns of ordinary Americans. It might be too late. The world hopes it will be too late and that we can have an American president respectful of the principles of liberal internationalism and the rule of law; an American president not so intoxicated with hubris, as the Bush administration has been.

I have a dream

The Obama campaign is on a roll. Whatever the Republicans come up with this week at their convention (hurricane allowing) should be easily and convincingly rebutted by the Obama campaign. Obama, speaking on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech was surreal. But it is real. We are witnesses to history - or, for black people, "our-story".

Ian Boyne is a veteran journalist who may be reached at ianboyne1@yahoo.com. Feedback may also be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.