Hot damn. Obama seized the initiative today, delivering a barnstormer of an economic speech in Raleigh, NC as he kicks off a two week tour on the economy.

We all knew the economy would be a big deal this election, and it only makes sense for Democrats to push this as their major theme this year. Not only are Bush's policies to blame, John McCain has demonstrated weakness on this issue and, amazingly, hasn't outlined a compelling vision of his own in the past three months. But still, I wasn't prepared for how forcefully Obama was able to articulate this issue in his speech today.

Obama framed the economic situation in a way that was both populist and centrist:

We did not arrive at the doorstep of our current economic crisis by some accident of history. This was not an inevitable part of the business cycle that was beyond our power to avoid. It was the logical conclusion of a tired and misguided philosophy that has dominated Washington for far too long.

George Bush called it the Ownership Society, but it's little more than a worn dogma that says we should give more to those at the top and hope that their good fortune trickles down to the hardworking many. For eight long years, our President sacrificed investments in health care, and education, and energy, and infrastructure on the altar of tax breaks for big corporations and wealthy CEOs - trillions of dollars in giveaways that proved neither compassionate nor conservative.

And for all of George Bush's professed faith in free markets, the markets have hardly been free - not when the gates of Washington are thrown open to high-priced lobbyists who rig the rules of the road and riddle our tax code with special interest favors and corporate loopholes. As a result of such special-interest driven policies and lax regulation, we haven't seen prosperity trickling down to Main Street. Instead, a housing crisis that could leave up to two million homeowners facing foreclosure has shaken confidence in the entire economy.

Obama then pivoted to hit McCain hard, painting him as a flip flopper, spelling out the choice between spending to rebuild America or rebuild Iraq, and tying McCain's policies to Exxon giveaways.

John McCain once said that he couldn't vote for the Bush tax breaks in good conscience because they were too skewed to the wealthiest Americans. Later, he said it was irresponsible to cut taxes during a time of war because we simply couldn't afford them. Well, nothing's changed about the war, but something's certainly changed about John McCain, because these same Bush tax cuts are now his central economic policy. Not only that, but he is now calling for a new round of tax giveaways that are twice as expensive as the original Bush plan and nearly twice as regressive. His policy will spend nearly $2 trillion on tax breaks for corporations, including $1.2 billion for Exxon alone, a company that just recorded the highest profits in history.

Think about that. At a time when we're fighting two wars, when millions of Americans can't afford their medical bills or their tuition bills, when we're paying more than $4 a gallon for gas, the man who rails against government spending wants to spend $1.2 billion on a tax break for Exxon Mobil. That isn't just irresponsible. It's outrageous.

John Edwards was in the crowd, and Obama mentioned that he was "teaming up" with Elizabeth Edwards on health care. Most encouraging, though, was the outrage and emotion Obama brought to this issue, as well as how aggressively the Obama campaign is moving to lay claim to this ground. This was a pitch-perfect speech and a must-watch. I'll post the video when it's up.