I found myself thinking about my experiences with Obama over more than a decade, first as his constiuent when he served as senator in the IL state legislauture, second as his constiuent as he serves in the US Senate, and third as a Democrat observing and participating in the primary campaign for 2008.

I have come to the following conclusions after examining my experiences with Obama:

A. He is genuine. His message has been consistent throughout his public and private life.

B. He understands the human condition or, the condition of being human, is that none of us, including himself, is perfect. As St. Paul wrote, "We have all fallen short of the Glory of God." And yet, he does not suffer this as an excuse for not striving to become our very best, even if our very best is not perfect. This is his hope and dream: that we will all strive for and become our best.

C. His passion for wanting to understand what others think and feel is foundational to his character. Of the dozen or so conversations I've had with Obama over the years, two of them were quite contentious as we were on opposite sides of the issues. I came away from those two conversations better understanding his position and I know he went away better understanding mine as he subsequently made changes to his legislation which substantially addressed my concerns without compromising his positions.

D. He passionately and consistently calls us to find our better angels. Yet, as a pragmatist, he does not expect perfection. If I am a C student, he calls me to find the B student in myself. And when I become that B student, he calls me to find the A student in me.

E. Obama refuses to presume the worst intentions in the motives of those with whom he disagrees. Yet, when the evidence is clear, he does not hesitate to question an opponent's motives. Sort of the old, trust-by-verify, kind of thing.

F. Finally, it is clear Obama has struggled long and hard with his own demons/issues, that he has beaten them back, and has embraced the lessons learned from those struggles. This was amply displayed in his speech on Tuesday. As Red wrote, "but it flowed and felt like something Barack Obama has been dying to say publicly for a good long time." He bared his soul and made no effort to hide the scars therein.

Tuesday's speech was a culminating event, betraying the struggles Obama has faced and demonstrating his uncanny ability in understanding the many sides to a complex problem. In his speech, he was speaking for so many of us regardless of race, gender, etc. Obama's acknowledgment of the hurts and anger experienced by all of us due to unresolved issues of race, whether we be black, white, brown, green, male, female, gay, straight, rich, poor, etc., reminds me of Carl Roger's "significant learning" outlined in his book, ON BECOMING A PERSON: the facts are always friendly. The facts, no matter had bad, are always friendly because once we embrace facts, we can actually do something about them.