This speech rivals the convetion one.  He REALLY does sound like he's preaching Gospel.  If I were on Obama's Campaign, I'd have clips of this speech playing on Iowa television sets come December.

Both Edwards and Obama have the right message.  I do not understand where this suppose Hillary support is coming from. 

Obama seems to be winning here in NH and Vermont. In Vermont, the liberal state, he has raised $350,000 while Hillary has raised only $33,000. I have never met anyone who supports Hillary up here. I have no idea where they are getting their figures. Obama could restore the "new Democrats" idea awakened by Webb and Warner. The JJ speech was a great speech. This long, tiresome primary season is a great boon to Obama. Being a relative unknown it did take awhile to get to know him; I was already tired of the others. I did not like him at first because I felt he had no experience and he had allowed the "race" card to be played inauthentically on his behalf. But now that he has had a year run I've come to admire his character and integrity and he seems to be rising to the job; improving with time. In New England his elan and genuine world spirit reminds us of Jack Kennedy. An Obama ticket with Kathleen Sebelius as VP and Jim Webb on board somewhere and Mark Warner in the wings could bring a bright new day to the country and a new awakening to the new century. 

I would not be surprised to see the independent vote in New Hampshire break strongly for Obama in 2008 as it did in 2000 for McCain -- the main question is can he keep the margins close among registered Democrats.

It's still early, but given the options, he seems well suited towards winning over voters who are looking for a candidate who is not tied too strongly to the Washington establishment.

And I'm starting to get really annoyed that Obama hasn't found the thread that connects his "new kind of politics" outsider message with his insider, boiler-plate policy proposals.  Pay teachers more?  Yep, that should play well with NEA and the AFL-CIO, that will get votes.  Insure every American?  That polls really well with middle class families, that will win votes.  It all poll tests so well that I would wonder why every Democratic candidate wasn't proposing essentially the same policy platform if it weren't for the fact that every Democratic candidate already *IS* proposing essentially the same policy platform.

Here's what I keep hoping I'm going to see from Obama: vision.  He says we need a new direction, and I agree, but where would he like to go?  I keep waiting for him to say "This is the America that we are going to be.  This is who we are.  This is what we believe in."  Instead I get five minutes of lipservice to the things he actually thinks and feels followed by fifteen minutes of same-old boilerplate messaging, with five minutes of thinly-veiled anti-Hillary rhetoric thrown in to appeal to his "base," which (unlike me) is actually not all that idealistic but is incredibly anti-Hillary.  I've been committed to the idea of voting for this man to be my President ever since Warner dropped out, but I'm honestly starting to get kind of sick of listening to him talk.

Actually, I found Obama's speeech to be realtively weak on delivery.  Edwards' was better.  Hillary's was better.  Actually, the comparison is becoming more stark as time passes. 

If he's the nominee, I trust Obama will grow some gravitas and grow as a speaker who can appeal to general election voters.  He's not showing it yet.

I watched four different candidates (not Dodd) and it seemed clear that Obama gave the best speech.  He conveyed his beliefs, policy ideas and a sense of himself.  I think he certainly was smoother in criticizing Clinton than Edwards who went after much of the Bill Clinton presidency.

I think that Obama can inspire people.  He can get people excited.  People will find that he makes up for his relative lack of time as an elected politician with a remarkable grasp of our current situation and a unique ability to explain it and offer people a vision for the future.  He has demonstrated excellent judgment in the years he has served in elective office.

I think he is going to turn it up now and make his move.

First of all, that was  a partisan setting.

Beyond that, maybe we're just getting into who we favor.  I am willing to say that I might be biased.

I will maintain, however, that Obama has more experience in elective office and in political life in general than Edwards.

As time passes, I am seeing Hillary Clinton more and more as simply another  politician.  It maybe the consultants.  It maybe the need to run for President when she really doesn't have it in her to do it. I don't know precisely how to pinpoint it, but she is missing a critical intangible.