Necessary background: My friend Tyler voted for Bush twice. He was an early McCain supporter and flirted with Romney. I have been a long-time and fervent Obama supporter. I first created a banner for my website in January 2007. In fact, I started hoping he'd enter the Presidential race soon after subscribing to his podcast (which I miss terribly) in 2005.
Two months ago, I sent him a link to Obama's speech on race in America, A More Perfect Union. This was literally the first time he had ever seen Obama speak. His first reaction was to say, "Wow. He's so likable."
Then silence for 40 minutes.
When it was over he said, "That was the best political speech I have ever seen."
One final, necessary piece of information: We are both Mormon. Active, happy, and in good standing with the Church. We both served missions (he to France, I to North Carolina), we're both married and we both have young children (2 for him, 3 for me).
Here is the conversation we had this morning through iChat:
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