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Tonight with laptop before me, cell phone in hand, and the world at my fingertips I watched Senator Obama raise the bar in American politics to such a height as to put his opponent's very relevance into question.

All year we have heard that Obama lacks the experience to lead the nation; that he's peddling false hopes. For those who have taken the time to read his policy positions, to explore his story, to genuinely listen to what he has been saying in his speeches, it's been clear for some time that this son of a single-mother, Harvard Law graduate, community organizer, teacher of Constitutional Law, State and then US senator is neither a Pollyanna, nor an ingénue; not an idealist, nor an innocent and certainly not an "elitist."

All year we've watched the slings and arrows flying fast from the quarters of those whose commitment to the wealthiest among us is matched only by their poverty of ideas and the unmitigated gall with which they have striven to distract the American people from the defining issues of our day. In a world where regular people can no longer believe in the security of their jobs, homes or health the Republican Party has determined that the issue at hand is not the crumbling fabric of American life, but rather the popularity of the opposing candidate. In the absence of substantive solutions to the problems facing our nation Senator McCain has chosen to fight this political battle on the fringes of common sense. But we who have been paying any attention at all are well aware of at least one simple truth:

This election is about much more than Paris Hilton.

Tonight I saw Senator Obama stand and deliver what will go down as one of the great speeches in American public life. But what moved me most perhaps was the experience of watching it. With television, laptop and BlackBerry before me, I Tweeted, texted and Facebooked with young people on every continent as we watched History made before us. I was struck not so much by the esteem in which friends and strangers hold Senator Obama, but by the fact that we have all clearly heard the call that he is making.

The GOP has failed to understand what is the fundamental genius of Barack Obama's candidacy. Senator Obama has never made this campaign about The One...he has made it about The Many. And from Kansas to Qatar, Paris to Pittsburgh a generation is heeding his call to responsibility for our collective future. Senator Obama tonight proved himself not only qualified to be Leader of the Free World, but as someone uniquely qualified to make it a freer one. In a world desperately in need of heroes, he has ignited the spirit of heroism in us all. And no distraction, no distortion, no demonization will quench the American spirit that breaths today in the hearts of the citizens of the world.