Quick Impressions of the Get Out The Vote Rally with Barack Obama

I could go on about how well Harry Mitchell did (very, very, well), or how much Jim Pederson has improved as a public speaker (a freakin' LOT!), or even how Mayor Phil Gordon of Phoenix killed (that's a good thing, and a little surprising to me. the only time I've ever seen him speak before was last month at Temple Emanuel when he subbed for Governor Napolitano. He was spectacularly ok there.)

I could even write about David Waid,the Chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, who had a great line -

Here in the state of Arizona, you can see we have a good contrast.

They have Len Munsil, we have Janet Napolitano.

They have J.D. Hayworth, we have Harry Mitchell.

They have Jon Kyl, we have Jim Pederson.

They have George Bush, we have Barack Obama.

But I won't. Well, not more than I already have. :)

This was Senator Obama's day.

Perhaps he truly hasn't decided if he is declaring for President in 2008, but if he does decide to run, he's already in mid-campaign form. He knows how to move a crowd, and he had us in the palm of his hand from the first word.

The erstwhile candidates for both parties should know that he's going to be damn near impossible to beat on the stump or in debates. He can energize a crowd for 15 minutes, and he can do it off the cuff or from memory - I spoke to David Schapira at tonight's ABIL D17 forum, and he told me that Sen. Obama spoke without any notes.

As someone who can't give a one-minute presentation at work without notes, that may be what impresses me the most.

Oh, by the way - he was the only politician on the stage smart enough to take off his jacket on the sun-drenched stage. That alone would warrant his consideration for President (Hey - after nearly 6 years of the current occupant, maybe we should consider intelligence to be a prerequisite for the job.)

Anyway, KVOA has good coverage of the event here; EV Trib coverage here.

More on the ABIL forum later.