A diverse crowd of 10,000 people attended a rally at Oakland City Hall on March 17 to hear presidential candidate Barack Obama – confirming his status as the election cycle’s “fresh face” with a powerful message. The vast majority of attendees (including myself) could not even see Obama as he delivered his speech, but they heard him loud and clear as he ended with a clarion call to use his campaign as a “vehicle” for change.

While he sounded the theme of hope that has become the staple of his campaign speeches (and reminded the crowd that he had always opposed the War in Iraq), Obama also made some concrete policy-based pledges on health care, education and the environment – and spoke about his prior legislative accomplishments. He did this to address the biggest criticism of his campaign – that it is big on hope, but short on substance.

“He was very impassioned, very enthusiastic and very progressive,” said Sara Heller of Oakland, who had come to learn more about the candidate that has generated buzz and momentum. Still, she wasn’t ready to jump on his campaign’s bandwagon – at least not yet. “I’d like to read more about him,” she said.

But there were plenty of excited campaign volunteers ready to enlist the crowd in spreading the word about his candidacy. Attendees were not allowed into the rally unless they wrote down their contact info on their ticket stub, a sure sign that they’ll be hearing more from the Obama campaign soon.

“We face a series of challenges as significant and daunting as any generation has faced,” said Obama. “If we do not stand up and meet those challenges, we may end up with an America that is poorer and meaner,” as he talked about a health care system that is “bankrupting families,” an education system that is “teaching too few,” and an energy crisis caused by a “lack of an energy policy.”

Like every Democratic Presidential candidate in the past decade, Obama spoke about the need for “every single American to have basic health care.” But he specifically called for it to happen by the end of his first term, and he urged the crowd to hold him accountable on this pledge. Hillary Clinton has promised to get universal health care by the end of her second term, so Obama’s pledge was clearly designed to distinguish himself from the competition.

While his opposition to the Iraq War was well received, Obama’s positions on education also drew sustained applause. “Let’s invest in our teachers,” he said, “and make sure that they are paid a decent wage.” Every presidential candidate talks about education, but it was clear that Obama would not do what many others have done – use the teacher’s unions as a scapegoat.

Surprisingly, Obama criticized Congress for not doing enough about education. “We have a Congress right now,” he said, “that is making it tougher to go to college – not easier.” Under House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congress has cut interest on student loans in half – a step in the right direction, but advocates agree that it is insufficient. Whether Obama meant to criticize the House leadership for not going far enough, or the Senate for stalling even that reform, was unclear.

On the environment, Obama had some powerful rhetoric about “a planet that will be unrecognizable and would affect generations to come.” And he offered some substantive solutions – he praised California for capping the emissions of greenhouse gases, and made it clear that we need to invest in alternative energy sources. “We can leave behind a planet that is prosperous and environmentally sound,” he said.

But Obama deftly tied all of these issues back to Iraq – as he said it would be difficult to do any of these things until we end the war. “I am proud of the fact that I opposed this War from the start,” said Obama – in stark contrast with Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. “I am also proud that I have a bill right now with 50 co-sponsors that says we have to begin withdrawing our troops by May 1st of this year.”

Six weeks ago, Obama introduced the Iraq War De-Escalation Act – a binding resolution that will call for all our troops to be out by March 31, 2008. Since then, the Democratic leadership in both houses has largely adopted this proposal, and this week the House Appropriations committee voted to approve it – whereas the Senate rejected it 48-50. What this shows is that Obama has been ahead of the curve on the most critical issue facing us today.

Besides being “short on substance,” Obama has been criticized for his lack of experience. While he acknowledged that he has only been in the Senate for two years, Obama insisted that he had relevant prior experience. His work as a community organizer taught him that “ordinary people can do extraordinary things,” his legal career taught him that “fairness and justice have to be fought every day,” and Obama had an impressive record in the Illinois State Senate – from public health care, to ethics reform, to a first-in-the-nation requirement that all police-interrogated confessions be videotaped.

“What they’re saying,” said Obama, “is that I don’t have a lot of Washington experience. But I’ve been there long enough to know that Washington needs to change. If we change our politics, we can solve the problems that people say are unsolvable.”

I have criticized Obama for his excessive concern about “partisanship,” as if liberal Democrats who attack Bush are somehow equally guilty of playing politics as Republicans. But Obama steered clear of such rhetoric – as he instead criticized the “cynicism” and “pettiness” that has engulfed Washington politics, where “we no longer understand what’s at stake.” That line drew a sustained round of applause.

Obama cautioned that he cannot bring all these changes alone – and that “in the history of this nation, change has never come from the top-down. It has come from the bottom-up.” Obama then spoke about the Revolutionary War, the abolitionist movement, women’s suffrage, the labor movement and the civil rights movement. “At every stage,” he said, “we decided that we don’t believe in the ‘can’t do’ and ‘won’t do’ from government.”

Obama concluded by urging the crowd that his campaign would be a “vehicle for you,” and that together they could help bring an end to the War. As he finished the speech with loud cadences and the crowd roared with applause, I heard echoes of John F. Kennedy (“ask not what your country can do for you”) and Martin Luther King (“I have a dream that one day this nation will live up to the true meaning of its creed.”)

The only question now is – will the rest of America hear it too?

Send feedback to paul@beyondchron.org