"Man, just who is this Obama guy? He'll be President someday."

[Chipper Chat]

That was my stunned reaction in 2004 to Obama's convention speech. I thought "what a breath of fresh air - this guy's the new JFK." This part really got me:

"Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America — there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America." (BHO)

I was on my feet jumping for joy! Imagine, a speaker at a major party convention DARING to mention that he has GAY FRIENDS.

Well, here we are. 1/20/2009. Phrophecy fulfilled.

How many other DUers out there experienced this exact same scenario?
I'm sure I'm not the only one.

[Arugula Latte]

1. I was blown away by him, and I remember thinking something like:

"Wow. How amazing it would be to have someone like him as our president. But, it will probably never happen seeing as how this country is full of tens of millions of Bush-loving morons and the media is in the service of the Republican Party."

Glad to be proven wrong!

[Chipper Chat]

7. A---------men.

Ah said, A-MEN.

[Tinksrival]

2. I remember it clearly!

I was standing at the stove in the kitchen, stirring stoganoff. The TV in the family room was turned up so I could hear the convention. I stopped and put the spoon down. I had chills. I moved to the next room and watched and had the same thought as you. :fistbump:

[Chipper Chat]

9. Wow, you remember what you were cooking?

I was eating a late supper - I think a green-fried tomato sandwich (I love those and used to pull the small ones off my Indiana garden vine before they got ripe just so I could fry them).

[EraOfResponsibility]

3. That was my reaction. I mean that speech was unlike anything I had ever seen

It's the kind of thing where you tell people that you had to be there to understand it. What I mean by that is, most people are used to Obama's speeches by now, but four years ago, many of us experienced that speech for the first time, which made it all the more incredible and arresting.

[rusty quoin]

4. Earlier I watched on C-Span 3 his book signing, Nov. 2004.

I watched it and said to myself, man this guy has such a great understanding of things. We have the right person here.

[Still Sensible]

5. My immediate thought was

this guy could br president someday. I am flabbergasted that someday came so soon. I expected some other Dem to win '08 and Obama would run in '12 or '16.

[rufus dog]

6. I didn't see it

Got a call from my father in law (hardcore rightie) who asked me if I just saw the first black President. I blew it off thinking he was just yanking my chain.

[Political_Junkie]

8. Similar reaction,

but i knew that he was to be our next Democratic President. That made me sad for Kerry.

[Kablooie]

10. They say, be careful what you wish for...

So I was careful, wished for Obama, and got him!

Yahoo!

[Reader Rabbit]

11. As soon as his speech was over, I called my mom...

...and told her that I had just listened to a speech by the first black president of the United States.

Miss Cleo, eat yer heart out!

[Indiana_Dem]

12. I thought that if race didn't get in people's way, he was going to be president if he wanted to be.

Everything he was saying spoke to my inner being of what I had been feeling and thinking through the Bush first term and more ultimately of the right wing movement over the years. I told my husband at the time, "He WILL be president someday". I just felt that way so I spoke it. My husband laughed at me in disbelief even though he thought Obama's speech was excellent.

[windbreeze]

13. When I heard his speech in 2004...

I said out loud...the man will be president some day...never dreamed it would happen so soon....wb

[kenziemom06]

14. I knew it as soon as he started speaking, seriously...

and even went so far as to tell my high school history classes in the days after Kerry's loss to write down the name Barack Obama in their notebooks because he was going to be our next President. Some of them emailed me on election day 2008 to tell me they still have their notebooks!!

I'm still so elated from yesterday!

[Shiver]

15. I never saw the speech

Not until about a year later. Some asshole right-wingers in the dorm purposely commandeered the common room television to watch Die Hard or Unbreakable or something with Bruce Willis. The third floor didn't want anything to do with politics, and the fifth floor TV was broken.

By the time we found one that someone (with a personal set) was willing to let us watch the convention coverage, it was long past the keynote speech. It was another year before I finally got around to seeing what this "Barack Obama" character was all about.

[yodermon]

16. What's funnier is that people who knew him from his State Senator

and Chicago-activist days say that that was -- get this -- the *same speech he'd always given* in Chicago! At least there were many of the same elements. No link, but i think i saw it in a frontline interview or some such.

[nc4bo]

18. What I admire most about Obama is his consistency.

I even remarked to my husband about this last week.

His basic rhetoric (I hate that word) is consistent. He does not stick his finger in the wind and go with whatever current happens to be running through this country at any given time just to further his political career.

I admire that. I really do and it's something that made me trust his words more so than any other politician. The consistent message is what got to donate AND got me off my ass and volunteer for him.

[KittyWampus]

17. I said outloud "he's going to be POTUS someday". Others have mentioned likewise

edit- and yes, I also now marvel at he's ascendancy coming so soon.

[trynotto_giveuphope]

19. McCain, Giuliani & After The 2004 Election

I had a good feeling about Obama. After hearing that speech, I thought to myself: "If we lose this year, and this guy runs in 2008, he'll win."

I come from a Republican family. A couple of days after the 2004 election, I was conversing with my brothers who were (yikes) relieved that what's-his-name won. "And we'll win again in 2008. We've got both Giuliani *and* McCain. Who do *you* have? Hillary?" they laughed.

"Barack Obama," I told them.

"Who?" they asked.