Reading the comments on the previous thread, particularly concerning the Clark kerfuffle and supposed movement to the center by Obama caused me to both smile and grimace and I will talk about my response to those thoughts in a little bit.

But first, let me add a little to some of the things you mentioned above.  First about patriotism.  Obama quoted Mark twain, appropriate for where he was speaking.  But he also could have quoted Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican, who said that one of the first duties of a patriotic citizen was to dissent when justified.

You hit many of the sections of the speech that hit me, but he also talked about something which I think is what sets him apart from most Democratic candidates in the past.  He talked about how patriotism is measured, to a degree, by sacrifice.  He talked about McCain's sacrifice and others.  He meant that it includes far maor than just military sacrifices.  And then he lambasted Bush for telling people to go shopping after 9/11.

This keys in to his rather regular talking about individuals accepting responsibility for their actions, for parents to accept responsibility for the raising of their children, for all of us to accept responisibility for each other.  It keys in with the fact of requiring public service in order to get the college assistance.  He is not a get something for nothing type of person.

This speech may have been as significant, and maybe more so, than his race speech and it is unfortunate that what comes out of it is his needing to reference McCain and subtly push Clark aside.

Yet, I think he did the right thing.  One of the purposes of a surrogate is to say things the candidate can't and which the candidate can distance himself from.  Most Obama supporters are not really going to vote for McCain because he "disowned" what Clark said.  But some undecideds will listen to what Clark said and realize he was quoted out of context and that what he said does have some meaning.

Regarding all the other things, as was mentioned numerous times, much of what Obama has said the last couple weeks is not inconsistent with his general view of things, except the FISA thing, which has also ticked me off.  But then he came out very strongly against the proposed California amendment against gay marriage, which is a pretty strong thing for a candidate wooing some of the evangelical votes to do.

Finally, I just want to say that I only know one person who meets the constitutional requirements for President with whom I agree on every issue, and I am not running.  So I go to the next closest.  And that is Obama hands down.