Deval Patrick was born poor in the South Side of Chicago, but in one generation has risen to the chief executive of Massachusetts, and his daughter has traveled on four continents. This shows that America is awesome. (I guess that the eight Clinton years made up for the failed bad policies of the Republican presidents who presided over the majority of the time that Governor Patrick was making that ascent.)

Greatest Generation, Federal highway system, system of colleges and universities, civil rights movement. These are the chapters of the American story, and Barack Obama understands that. Barack understands that the gateway to a better life is a first-rate education. That’s why he’ll invest in early education so that all these kids will stop failing out of kindergarten. Pay teachers more, emphasize math and science more, help students pay for college. A well-educated America will make things again. (Yeah, because Yale graduates always hit the assembly line.) Working people will be able to see a path to the middle class and a secure future.

John McCain says he believes in education, but we know he’s lying because he’s against funding Head Start and wants to abolish the Department of Education. This is no surprise, because John McCain is hypocritical just like Bush. “These are the same folks who say they believe in small government and fiscal restraint, but are responsible for the biggest runup of the Federal deficit in history.” (Well, he’s got us there.) Compassionate conservatives abandoned people before and after Katrina.

The American people have had enough, but Democrats don’t deserve to win just because Republicans deserve to lose. We need more and better programs and policies and we also need a better vision. When he was growing up in Chicago, everything was broken. But later when he got a scholarship to boarding school, things got better. His teachers would get on his case if he didn’t perform. They were trying to teach them that they were members of a community. Barack Obama challenges us to rebuild our national community.

Government can’t solve every problem. But government is the name we give the things we choose to do together. Let’s not kid ourselves, this won’t be easy. The status quo is powerful. Lots of people, even some in the Democratic party, don’t want to rock the boat. If we’re going to get the leadership that the times demand, we have to work for it. Have to ask Republicans and independents to take a chance. We have to put our cynicism and learn to say again, like the Greatest Generation, that “yes we can.”

(Little applause for this seemingly easy applause line.)

Barack Obama isn’t just a campaign, it’s a <em>cause</em>.