The actual quote was "I wish I could claim I will pass every plan and proposal outlined in my campaign, ON DAY ONE."  It was clearly a not so subtle swipe at one of Hillary's campaign slogans.

Personally, I like that he uses the word "we."  Because that's what he's been about this entire campaign, that it's not him that can change government for the better, it's all of us.  It will take immense political pressure to get any healthcare proposal passed, and that means all of us calling on our congressmen to do the right thing.

By the way I heard Obama is heading to NC tomorrow and Hillary Clinton is heading back there tonight , she would hold two events there tomorrow.

These were all unscheduled I gather .

Maybe NC would be closer than we all think.

By the way another rumor I am hearing is Schuler will be endorsing her in NC tomorrow.

I can't confirm it , but its the buzz I am picking up among her supporters in Tennessee.

He says .30/day comes to $28 for the summer.   He denigrates that as useless, thus indicating how out of touch he is with real working people, where $28 can make a difference.

Is that what your vote is worth?

Obama did pass legislation with Lugar and Coburn, so that is working across party lines. I'm not sure how unprecedented it was.

The highlight was passing death penalty reform in Illinois WITH POLICE BACKING.

Barack Obama complains about Hillarys idea but seems to have none of his own. He says that the oil companies will just pass on the added weight to the consumer. Well, I would suppose the sae would be true about a windfall tax and anything else the government decides to do. Why do anything then, it seems like Barack is telling America that resistence is futile.

Secondly, for all the talk about bi-partisanship as a way to change America I must say this as an hoonest observation. John McCain has been at the center of most of the modern bi-partisanship agreements and he has the scars from his Republican base to prove is. McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy, Gang of 14. To be fair Barack hasn't been in as long but how else should we judge his record in terms of bi-partisanship (the way his campaign has been run doesn't strike me as one who has found away around it)

"Some have offered" gas tax break.  Maybe this is how he manages to claim that his campaign is not negative ... because he declines to name the person he is attacking.  

I've never heard of anyone considering it negative campaigning to say how other candidates ideas differ from your own, and why he thinks they are wrong, whether he says who these people are or not. That's what he should be doing.

For down sides, continue reading ...

Speech starts with the claim that "we" (always "we" when he really means "I") will usher in a new way of doing things in Washington.

There is no evidence from Obama's past as a U.S. Senator or as an IL Senator, that he does things any differently than anyone who came before.   So is this a lie or just wishful thinking?

"Some have offered" gas tax break.  Maybe this is how he manages to claim that his campaign is not negative ... because he declines to name the person he is attacking.

He says .30/day comes to $28 for the summer.   He denigrates that as useless, thus indicating how out of touch he is with real working people, where $28 can make a difference.

"I wish i could stand here and say we could fix energy problems with a holiday.   Wish i could bring back overseas jobs.  I wish I could claim I will pass every plan and proposal outlined in my campaign.  But you've heard that in every election.  Everyone goes back to washington and does the influence peddling."   [I have to ask Obama, 'so what do you plan to do, other than complaining?' ]

"Take a chance on a new kind of politics ... it's about who we are as Americans.   Are we going to stand up and reclaim the American dream?   That will take more than one election, more than one person, more than one party."  [Right.  So again, what will YOU contribute, other than being one of many guys who have run on a promise to change Washington?]

"I'm the only candidate who has proposed a middle-class tax cut."   [That is a lie.   Hillary will reduce taxes for people making less than $250k/year].

Great country, and "the only way a black guy born in HI named Barack Obama can be running for President. "  [Calling attention to his own race, but lord help anyone else who mentions it].

Final word: get with the program. He's our nominee (feather, penny, nickel, dime, and quarter in. Didn't touch the salt-shaker, didn't touch the salt-shaker. didn't throw hat on the bed! Okay. we're good.)

The idea is, you do volunteer work for a certain amount of time for charity or the Peace Corps or the like, and you get $4,000 for school.

It's one of the many reasons Obama gets a huge percentage of the college vote.  People want to work for opportunities, but the methods of availability of scholarships and such has become so arcane and difficult to procure that kids give up on submitting requests after awhile.  This leads to more student loan debt, which dogs them throughout adulthood (heck, Obama was paying back student loans as of five years ago).

Speech starts with the claim that "we" (always "we" when he really means "I") will usher in a new way of doing things in Washington.   There is no evidence from Obama's past as a U.S. Senator or as an IL Senator, that he does things any differently than anyone who came before.   So is this a lie or just wishful thinking?

He uses "we" because he's trying to both win the Presidency and to convince the people that they can do great things to change this country.  Not too crazy an idea, unless you're a complete cynic.

And a President has substantially more power than a US or state Senator.  But since he has returned campaign donations from lobbyists while other candidates have not, I'd say there's some commitment to changing the Washington power structure.  

He says .30/day comes to $28 for the summer.   He denigrates that as useless, thus indicating how out of touch he is with real working people, where $28 can make a difference.

It is useless.  Those people deserve MUCH better than $30 over three months, despite some politicians assuming that that is the price of their votes.  Shameful.

"I wish i could stand here and say we could fix energy problems with a holiday.   Wish i could bring back overseas jobs.  I wish I could claim I will pass every plan and proposal outlined in my campaign.  But you've heard that in every election.  Everyone goes back to washington and does the influence peddling."   [I have to ask Obama, 'so what do you plan to do, other than complaining?']

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/energy /

Though feel free to continue with the "I haven't memorized Obama's policy positions, so therefore he must not have any" meme.  I gather that some enjoy playing that ridiculous game.

"Take a chance on a new kind of politics ... it's about who we are as Americans.   Are we going to stand up and reclaim the American dream?   That will take more than one election, more than one person, more than one party."  [Right.  So again, what will YOU contribute, other than being one of many guys who have run on a promise to change Washington?]

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ethics /

And see above comment.

"I'm the only candidate who has proposed a middle-class tax cut."   [That is a lie.   Hillary will reduce taxes for people making less than $250k/year].

Since when does the middle class make $250K a year?  Sounds like something Bush came up with.

Great country, and "the only way a black guy born in HI named Barack Obama can be running for President. "  [Calling attention to his own race, but lord help anyone else who mentions it].  

You can mention it.  Just don't paint him as another going nowhere black candidate.  That's really not helpful at all.

Clinton (Bill) had a service corp where young people could work in service to the country and the Republicans cut it and cut it away.  Hillary has been talking for over a year about helping young people pay for college in several ways.
Increase the Pell Grants
Go back to government sponsored very low interest loans and cut out the predatory lending practices that have caught up so many students.
If students work in service to the community  forgive loans up to 10,000.
If students go into high need areas like teaching or providing medical care to underserved areas forgive the loan a year at a time for each year of service.
Tax credits for families putting students in school
Lifelong learning and tehnical college opportunities for worker retraining and for students who do not choose regular college.  

There is more on the web site.  She also puts in full pre K early childhood education and revamps daycare in order to try to halve the acheivement gap among African American kids in rural and inner city schools.

Hillary has incentives for entering research and technology and for teaching math and science.  The whole push onn Education Policy is to help the economy grow, provide needed service to underserved areas and encourage young people to enter at least a period of public service.  So there would be a much larger pool of people working in health, mental health, safety, after school programs, education, recreation, environmental research and development as well as alternative energy.
Hillary's first 8 million jobs go to reparing the infrastructure and making all public buildings energy effiecient, in every town and community.

She had this stuff posted and in her stump speech for many months before Obama started to feel the need to add specifics in his speeches and debates.  The main reason their stuff sounds a lot alike is because his specific policies now on his website and in his speeches are either copies or pale, less comprehensive, interconnected versions of hers(with a few obvious exceptions!)

"Calling attention to his own race, but lord help anyone else who mentions it"

I've had enough of this shit. No one has ever said you can't talk about race. Clinton has spoke about Obama's race, as has edwards, I believe.

Its fine to talk about how America has given an opportunity for a black man or a woman to become president. What is not fine is saying that Obama has had it easy being black, that he wouldn't be a candidate for president if he weren't black. That this election is some kind of affirmative action scheme.

Clinton talks about her gender all the time as do her supporters ("It'll take a woman to clean up after bush"). No one calls her out on it. So stop saying that every time Obama mentions race he is being a hypocrite. Its just annoying.

Of course he copied almost everything from Senator Clinton.

Proof (via Chicago Tribune):

On foreign policy alone, some 200 experts are providing the Obama campaign with assistance of some sort, arranged into 20 subgroups. On the domestic front, more than 500 policy experts are contributing ideas, campaign aides said.

The diarist is right when she says Obama has a good services plan, however the plan is not only limited to youth. Anyone will be able to volunteer for America. Some highlights are:

• Expand AmeriCorps from 75,000 slots today to 250,000
  
• Double the Peace Corps to 16,000 by 2011
  
• Expand and improve programs that connect individuals over the age of 55 to quality volunteer opportunities
  
• Tax credit for college students worth $4,000 a year in exchange for 100 hours of public service a year
  
• Create an energy-focused youth jobs program to provide disadvantaged youth with service opportunities weatherizing buildings and getting practical experience in fast-growing career fields
  

When Senator Obama refers to We it is We the People he is speaking of. Change begins with us. We can make a difference. Learn more about Senator Obama's plan for public service by visiting: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/servic e/

Obama has let go of his post-racial politicking once and for all. But the rest is the same high on fluff low on specifics.

You can read about Obama's comprehensive service plan for the country, which includes creating service-learning for youth, here:

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/servic e/

"There is no evidence from Obama's past as a U.S. Senator or as an IL Senator, that he does things any differently than anyone who came before."

Actually refusing money from federal lobbyists and funding your campaign through mostly small donors is a relatively novel and welcome change to politics as usual.