Oh, BAMA!

If you saw the speeches at the DNC last night from Ron Reagan, Jr. or Barack Obama, you really couldn't help but be moved. Reagan was logical and eloquent -- with a few flashbacks to his father's style -- and really did a great job raising awareness on the issue of stem cell research, which holds so much promise for the (near) future. As a person whose family has cancer and Parkinson's disease in our midst, we are naturally quite interested, and it's great that we have Ron Reagan as a spokesperson for the cause. And let's not forget: Ron didn't speak at the DNC because he's left-leaning: he spoke there because it was the only large, national organisation with prime-time TV access that would let him speak on this important topic. The Republicans wanted nothing to do with it. Remember that when someone in your family suffers the debiltating effects of diabetes, cancer, Parkinson's or a host of other gene-related diseases.

As for Obama, his speech was everything political speeches generally aren't: heartfelt, funny, sincere, personal, warm, meaningful, inspiring. If this is the future of the Democratic Party, the party's future is incredibly bright. For once, I agree with David Gergen, whore-for-hire: this guy could actually be the first black President someday. He's so refreshing he even makes the other Dems look bad. He's sure got my vote.