August 30, 2008 10:50 PM UTC

Obama's speech - post-mortum

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• by: DavidThi808

While we wait for Sarah Palin to settle out, lets talk about something a lot more interesting. What are your impressions of what Obama said Thursday night? Not how successful it was (very), not how many watched it (tons), but what he said.

A couple of things keep poping up in my mind. They pop up because they were things he said that were not in his interest in terms of maximum votes. But they were important if he wants to govern effectively and by laying them out, it makes it easier to claim a mandate for them.

1. He promised better pay for teachers, but then tied that to greater accountability of those teachers. This is one of the two key things we must address to fix our schools – and he listed the unpopular part with the polular.
2. Saying that we must end those programs that are not successful. With that he made every lobbyist his enemy. Yet again, this is key to bringing the federal system under control.
3. Including nuclear power in his list of what technologies we will use. Definitely a necessary oiece of the puzzle (look at France) but not a popular one.