Reverence for the power of the spoken word
Our nation's first black major party nominee for president, Barack Obama of Illinois, raised the bar for himself four years ago when he delivered the speech that would send his stature soaring.
He made it clear before Thursday night's speech-of-a-lifetime that he was more concerned with clearly conveying his positions than with inspiring us to even greater heights. Perhaps that was expectation lowering, but it also might have been a response to what inexplicably has become a knock on Obama -- that he is more showy speech than substance.
What is this notion that soaring oratory is a hindrance? It's poppycock promoted by political opposition or those less gifted at great speechifying.
Since this nation's birth, the clarion call of oratory has been at the fiber of our founding, helping us to grow and evolve as one nation, one community.
The most powerful and memorable leaders among us, elected or not, all can deliver ideas that move hearts and souls. That is the essence of inspiration and inspiration is the essence of leadership.
It was, after all, at the 1861 Republican state convention in Springfield that Abraham Lincoln declared, "A house divided against itself cannot stand" as he pleaded for slavery's end.
And 45 years ago, before the Lincoln monument, Martin Luther King Jr. spun his captivating dream of an America where "the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood."
It was Illinois native and Republican Ronald Reagan who reminded us that he believed in an America that is "a shining city on a hill."
When our nation most needed it, Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt, told us "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." And first Catholic President John Fitzgerald Kennedy called us to sacrifice with, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
Powerful ideas cloaked in passionate poetry and heartfelt delivery can and should continue to take us to that higher place in our hearts.
They can move people to transform themselves and their communities. Words can be strong enough to lift an entire nation. They can remind us of who we are; of who and how we wish to be.
This week, Michelle Obama said her husband sees "The world as it should be." "Keep on going," Hillary Clinton said, echoing civil rights champion Harriet Tubman. "America should always be a place called Hope," her husband, former President Bill Clinton reminded us.
Hope? Yes, we can, the 2008 Democratic nominee has reminded us.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that ideas well delivered do matter.
Whether he is victorious in his cause, we applaud Illinois' Barack Obama for the audacity of his oratory.