Barack Obama's "race" speech on Tuesday was the best political performance of a generation. It transformed a personal attack into a teachable moment. Obama didn't ask for our trust or sympathy, and didn't ask for special treatment, but instead laid out a rich background and a comprehensive case that transcended the attack.
This was the call at 3 a.m. He answered the phone, heard the message, then handed the phone to us, and said "It's for you." He showed us how to do the right thing, how to change the conversation, on the bus, in cafes, at work, over basketball, at Easter dinner. It was brave, smart, epic.
The attacks, the guilt by association, are not attacks on Barack Obama alone. They are attacks on decency, on the rules of engagement, attacks aimed at the lowest common denominator -- fear.
Barack Obama cannot win this election on his own, and he is the candidate who has shown, under pressure, under the kleig lights, that he trusts us. He is the candidate who deserves our support, who knows what the meaning of "we" is, who has entrusted the course of his campaign to all of us.
I've never been prouder of my presidential candidate.