Tonight was a historic occasion on all sorts of levels - both partisan and non-partisan. Just ask legendary political journalist Carl Bernstein, who on CNN called it “maybe the greatest convention speech since Kennedy.” Sen. Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president, and did it in grand style before a 85,000+ crowd at Invesco Field in Denver:

We knew Obama’s speech would succeed. Even the McCain camp concedes that the Illinois senator is a gifted orator (in fact, this seems to be one of the Republicans’ leading arguments against him). What was most extraordinary, however, about tonight’s remarks was not the delivery itself, but rather the aggressive nature of the content.

Tonight, Obama opened a direct assault on decades of Washington presumption, reasserting Democrats’ commitment to national security and foreign affairs. All but challenging McCain to an ol’ fashioned fist fight, Obama spoke loudly and clearly:

“If John McCain wants to debate who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next commander-in-chief,” he said, “that’s a debate I’m ready to have.”

“We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don’t tell me that Democrats won’t defend this country. Don’t tell me that Democrats won’t keep us safe.”

In criticizing McCain’s security credentials, Obama pounced upon his opponent’s support for the war in Iraq, as well as his handling of the initial war in Afghanistan.

“When John McCain said we could just ‘muddle through’ in Afghanistan,” said Obama, “I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11. John McCain likes to say he’ll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell, but he won’t even go to the cave where he lives.”

Partisanship and/or ideology aside, this speech was absolutely the best of the Democratic convention, the best of Obama’s presidential campaign thus far, and undoubtedly one of the better examples of effective Democratic offense since the Clinton era.