Obama for President

Hillary will be a liberal version of politics as usual. The most pointed evidence I can offer is the way she and Bill went after Obama in South Carolina. She is qualified, she is prepared, she has good ideas, she would probably make a great president, and she will continue the mud fight in Washington because she's been a part of it for 16 years. I believe Obama is only slightly less prepared but that he has the only true chance of being a transformative president. Not only that, I'm not sure she can beat McCain in November. They would split the country like normal because they are normal - a liberal and a conservative still fighting the same fights. They both play better with the other team than Bush II, but neither has a fundamentally different play book.
Obama is something different. Listen to him and it's obvious. When the questions are detailed questions - HE DOES have detailed answers, and the differences between him and Clinton are slight (2 points to Clinton for her better health care plan). But what he chooses to talk about when he has free reign over the microphone...the way he applies the language of the civil rights movement to the entire country...the way he demonstrably tries to be inspiring: THAT IS DIFFERENT. He's not attacking anyone, he's taking everyone with him. Yes, it's soft and fuzzy. But I repeat - he can answer the questions the way Clinton and McCain do - he can go on and on with policy declarations with the best of them. But what he CHOOSES to talk about, that's different. He's talking about prosperity and opportunity. It is hopeful. It is forward thinking, it is inclusive ... it is NOT politics as usual.
Some say Obama is all hope and no substance. I say Obama is substance and hope and I wonder why we don't ask for the same from Clinton and McCain.
Moreover, I don't think she can beat McCain. The people driving the record participation levels in this primary season are coming out for Obama, not for Clinton. McCain and Obama appeal to independent voters. I do not think the same thing of Clinton. I admit, I worry about his lack of experience - it's why I wasn't for him initially. Now I've accepted the argument that his lack of experience is exactly what gives him the greatest potential to be transformative.
I think Obama can talk the policy wonk talk (not as well as Clinton but) well enough to be President. He chooses not too. That is different.