Does anyone remember Obama's speech?

In all the excitement over Sarah Palin everyone seems to have forgotten B. Hussein Obama's "speech of a lifetime". Of course there is analysis of it out there, written before McCain's big announcement.

DENVER (AP) - Barack Obama, whose campaign theme is "change we can believe in," promised Thursday to "spell out exactly what that change would mean."

But instead of dwelling on specifics, he laced the crowning speech of his long campaign with the type of rhetorical flourishes that Republicans mock and the attacks on John McCain that Democrats cheer. The country saw a candidate confident in his existing campaign formula: tie McCain tightly to President Bush, and remind voters why they are unhappy with the incumbent.

Of course, no candidate can outline every initiative in a 35-minute speech—especially one that also must inspire voters, acknowledge key friends, and toss in some autobiography for the newly-interested. And Obama did touch on nitty-gritty subjects, such as the capital gains tax and biofuel investments.

He said he would "find ways to safely harness nuclear power," a somewhat more receptive phrase than he typically uses for that subject.

But most of his address echoed and amplified the theme that dominated the four-day Democratic nominating convention here: George Bush.

This is the problem with the Democrats entire approach. George Bush is not on the ticket this year. Mr. Bush is finishing his second term and getting ready to ride off into that sunset of dignified presidential retirement (somethign that William Clinton and James Carter badly need lessons in - although Carter seemd to get it at first).

In a way the brilliantly timed announcement of Sarah Palin as McCain's VP did Obama a favor in that it took his mediocre performance off the table.