A master was at work last night. A politician who can inspire hope filled in the blanks of his program and articulated his vision with skill and panache.

Obama, never short on inspiration, showed us the specifics of his program. He delivered a State of the Union speech in his acceptance speech. He laid out his programs fully and well. He gave exactly the right speech with precisely the right delivery and just the right balance of specificity and inspiration.

And he wove his background, his philosophy and his outlook around and through his proposals, combining moving rhetoric with specific proposals.

Undoubtedly, the speech will give him the bounce that he needs. It will transform a deadlocked race into a potential landslide. The rest of the convention may have been an exercise in partisan repetition and a Clintonian soap opera, but Obama's speech gave him clear frontrunner status in this race.

Is the race over? No. Is an Obama victory inevitable? No. Can McCain recover from Obama's speech? Yes. It is not clear that he will, but he can if he does it right.

Here's what he has to do:

— Explain how a McCain first term would not be a Bush third term. This man who opposed Bush in 2000 must rebut the accusation that he is but an echo. John McCain led where Bush feared to tread: against torture, for congressional and executive branch ethics reform, for campaign finance reform, for tough protections for worker pensions and limits on golden parachutes, a broad program to promote alternatives to oil, the surge that won the war in Iraq, support for regulation of tobacco and a priority for balancing the budget by cutting spending. This John McCain of the Senate must become John McCain, the candidate.

— He needs to state the obvious fact that we each know in the back of our mind: Obama's programs will cost money, and the hundred words he devoted to how he will pay for them do not adequately face the challenge. We know that his tax cuts are illusions and that he will dig deeper into our wallets but just isn't telling us now.

— McCain needs to explain the economic disaster that Obama's taxes will trigger. He needs to put the current economic malaise into perspective and paint what will happen if Obama's tax program is approved.

— And, finally, McCain needs to explain how Obama's proposals to emasculate the PATRIOT Act and his weakness in facing foreign crises will make us vulnerable.

It is to McCain's advantage that the magic of the Obama speech will not stand for months without rebuttal. His task at his convention that begins Monday is enormous and, for all of our sakes, he had better get to work.

To find out more about Dick Morris and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 DICK MORRIS AND EILEEN MCGANN

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