I take it back– Obama can win. And having defined HOW he wants to fight, I take back the ’spineless’ charge too.

Let me add that if you think his speech was moving to hear, analyze it. I did. I got chills because it was a work of real craftsmanship. His smarts aren’t just for show.

He didn’t just describe a roadmap to the future– he illuminated the breadcrumbs from the past and tied the sense of national despair to the policies of the last 8 Bush years, and therefore to McCain. His vision for the future leads us forward to our UNITED American moral center and his ability by cause of force (if nothing less) to deliver on that vision.

Not that that isn’t the perfect marketing set-up for selling a product (describe the consumers pain in detail, ratchet it up and then position yourself as the ONLY solution to the problem) but whether your campaign is to market vacations or politicians but to close the sale the right points not only must be understood, but delivered.

Obama did both.

Extending the selling analogy, what I think was most important for Obama beyond the convention last night, was converting voters from cold to warm ‘leads’.  I know myself that I am now more interested in watching him over the next weeks to defend and explain his vision. I bet many average Joe’s and Jane’s who caught that broadcast feel the same, and that is good.

But remember, for progressive populists, the final delivery is in the post-election details.