A Historic Moment

I congratulate you Sen. Barack Obama on your achievement. To be nominated, and to accept the nomination to run for the highest office this nation has, is a tremendous accomplishment. This is the kind of situation you've been hoping for from the moment you threw your hat in the ring. I suspect it would bring a tear to the eye of Martin Luther King, Jr., were he alive to witness today's events.

Your speech, though I disagree with much of your rhetoric, will be well received. You do know how to give a speech before a crowd. Maybe not in the Bill Clinton league, but close and with practice, you could get there. You are in your own element here, but this is where the rubber hits the road.

You have to do more than convince those who already believe in your cause.

You have to convince the rest of the nation that you're capable of leading, despite demonstrable the lack of experience (try out your own words on the subject if you need a refresher).

You need to offer more than empty platitudes of hope and change.

You need to get specific on how exactly windfall profits taxes will create new energy sources domestically while not causing a surge in energy prices that affect inflation. You need to explain how Democrats banning offshore drilling and refusing to find domestic sources of energy - fossil fuels - actually benefits consumers of those fuels since it powers our entire economy. You need to explain how exactly you'll convince your fellow Democrats to actually allow nuclear power plants be built and their waste stored. You need to explain how you're going to convince New Jersey's Democratic leadership to allow offshore drilling in areas known to have natural gas deposits.

You need to explain how the economy is in the toilet even as the economy grew 3.3% in the second quarter of this year. Democrats have been complaining since the campaign first started that the economy was heading for recession or depression, and each time, the economy has managed to grow - confounding the so-called experts even as the housing market bubble enters a corrective phase (and even there, the good news is that markets are starting to stabilize). You cannot expect the media to cover for you in every instance, though they may try.

You need to explain how your cut and run strategy in Iraq would have resulted in victory in Iraq, when every credible military expert would note that a precipitous withdrawal such as you and your fellow Democrats called for would have been disastrous. You'd also have to explain why your fellow Democrats want to cut and run from Afghanistan.

You need to explain why invading Pakistan, an ally of the US in the war on terror, was in the US interests.

You need to explain how you intend to keep the nation safe from terrorist threats, and the resumption of the Cold War.

Then, there are the personal relationships that you've never quite fully explained. Bill Ayers for starters. How exactly do you manage to stay friends with him even after knowing that he is an unabashed terrorist who muses that he didn't do enough damage to try and overthrow the government in the 60s and 70s.

Ayers was the bomb expert for the Weather Underground, and his terror buddies were intent on killing their fellow Americans - attacking Fort Dix, the Pentagon, State Department, and other government buildings. But for government misconduct in their prosecution, Ayers would have been found guilty and thrown in prison for his crimes.

What did you actually achieve while Chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC)? You were Chairman and oversaw a significant budget. Where did the money go and how come by every objective standard, the CAC was an abject failure.

You have time to answer those questions to the satisfaction of millions of people who might consider voting for you. You have 68 days to make your case. Use that time wisely.

This is when the results start counting for the real prize.