"One for the books" by Live from the Democratic Convention / LJWorld.com

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One for the books

Paul Davis is one of three Lawrence delegates to the Democratic National Convention who will be blogging on LJWorld.com. Check back often to see what they're saying.>I've never seen anything like it and probably will never again. I joined over forty Kansas delegates somewhere around the ten yard line of Invesco Field to witness what may be proclaimed as one of the most significant political speeches in our nation's history. It happened forty-five years to the day after arguably the greatest speech in American politics - given by Martin Luther King Jr.. The electricity you could feel from the crowd was unbelievable. The crowd was fired up by speeches from New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and former Vice President Al Gore before Obama's speech. Then Obama took the stage shortly after the sun went down over the Rocky Mountain range. It was truly a spectacular setting. The crowd even did "the wave" before the speech began.Unlike John Kerry's acceptance speech four years ago, Obama decided to go on the attack. He eloquently made the case for why he would be a much different president than John McCain and why McCain would simply be an extension of the Bush administration. At the end of the speech, Obama's reference to Dr. King's speech really connected with the crowd. The reaction from African-American delegates was priceless. You could see the pride and sense of fulfillment on their faces. For all the struggles that they have endured in achieving equal rights, you sensed they felt King's dream had come true. It was an evening I will never forget and a historic event I'm grateful to have experienced. Hopefully this speech will not simply be remembered for having the largest audience in political convention history, but will instead be remembered as a pivotal point in the election of Barack Obama and the changing of our nation for the better.