More Barack.

He went to PTA meetings, barber shops and beauty shops. He said people would ask him two questions. One of them was how he got the name "Barack Obama." After joking about some of the names people called him, he explained to people he got his name from his dad, who was a Kenyan. His mother was from Kansas, certainly an interesting combination. The second question bears on the presidential race. Why would you go into something dirty and nasty as politics? That's because it is a result of cynicism. We get a sense people are long on rhetoric and short on follow through. Half of us don't vote. Half of those who do vote vote against the other candidate. Mentioned the lesser of two evils. At most we hope the government doesn't do us harm. He talked about when we start believing again, the lobbyists and so forth hold sway. They lead us down a path good for the few but bad for the many. There was a sense of discouragement in his first race and is true now. There has always been another tradition in politics, which he talked about in his 2004 speech. The idea we are all connected as a people, that we have mutual responsibilities, no matter where we live. We have mutual impact. Talked about veterans eating out of dumpsters because of no services and how that diminishes our patriotism.

We as Americans take pride in our individualism, in our self-reliance, but we also believe in the idea of community, that we are all in it together, that we aren't all on our own. The idea has been lost over the past six years. The whole philosophy seems to be "you're on your own." Obama then ran through a litany of things that have happened to far too many Americans, but the attitude of those running our government is "you're on your own." I always like it when politicians hit on the same catchphrase, which helps tie their speeches nicely together.

He believes America wants to "turn a new page" from the politics of selfishness. They want a government that reflects the "core decency" of the American people, and that's what they are going to get in 2008.

We can do better than we're doing right now. It's possible to turn the page and create the health care system that serves every single American. It makes no sense to spend 2 trillion a year and have the worst outcomes...He talked about his new health care plan. He believes in affordable health care for all. "We can do it without breaking the bank." Talked about online medical records, prevention, and take some smart sense we can have universal health care and not have to wait twenty years for it. Obama promised we would have it by "the end of my first term."

People want to turn the page on the education system, which is leaving too many children behind. Obama talked about the lack of funding for NCLB, a law that should be ditched. Talked about what we need to do in school, early childhood education is important. There is no reason why we can't have those investments and teachers paying more. Give teachers the resources they need. We need to have more respect for teachers.

Obama talked about the energy crisis and climate change. The planet is getting warmer, and nobody has a greater stake than the people out West. We need to increase fuel efficiency standards to decrease our dependence on foreign oil. Talked about alternative fuels, trapping greenhouse gases, we could create a new technology that would provide green jobs.

We can turn a page on the economy. Talked about Dow Jones at an all-time high while families are living from paycheck to paycheck. We know what it takes to raise the minimum wage, and invest in economic development in cities and in rural areas, invest in educating new engineers and scientists for new technologies, and people having the right to organize unions.

People know we need to turn a page in our foreign policy. Obama hit upon the war in Iraq, a war we never should have been involved in, costing us a half a trillion dollars and over 3,400 lives. Talked about Afghanistan and drew a contrast between that and Iraq. Talked about his early opposition to the war in Iraq, which he voiced in 2002, when he ran for the Senate. He introduced legislation this year a bill about a phased withdrawal from Iraq. It was a responsible plan but realizes there would not be a military solution to the problem. People want a thoughtful, clear plan. We passed a timetable for withdrawal but our dictator vetoed it. He thinks Iraq is like Korea, that we may be there for decades to come. "That is not acceptable. That is not the way to make us more secure. We have to bring this war to an end." We need to change the votes in support of a timetable, but we need sixteen more votes for a veto-proof majority. Urges people to urge their representatives and senators to support a timetable. Promised one of the first things he would do as president is end the mess in Iraq.

He wants to stand before the world that America is back, that we want to work with you and not against you on a variety of issues. He wants to close Guantanamo and restore habeus corpus, and other issues.

He is confident in his capacity to lead this country and confident the people will turn the page. He can do it if the people support him. Talked about Bloody Sunday of 42 years ago. Their adventures were hard, but millions of people saw what took place, and it changed their minds about civil rights. People joined in the Selma, Alabama, march and in the end the Civil Rights Act of 1965 became law. Going on that bridge 40 years later moved Obama. If it hadn't been for them he wouldn't have run for the U.S. Senate, he wouldn't have run for president, he wouldn't have been a rock star, he wouldn't have been the media darling of the year.

Obama closed with an upbeat message about believing in America again. That's how we ended slavery, how we got women the right to vote, how we got the end of the end of the Vietnam War, how we are going to end the Iraq War, and if we all stand together and believe in this better America, not only are we going to give Republicans a heck of a time, not only are we going to win this campaign, we are going to transform this country.

And that was the end of his speech which I paraphrased in my own inimitable style.

I stopped taping the speech, but Obama then added a few words about the importance of signing those pledge cards, although he has raised more money than almost anybody else in the campaign so far.